Public Health Response to Traumatic Brain Injury
Jeneita Bell, MD, MPH
Medical Officer
LCDR, USPHS Commissioned Corps
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention
Overview

History of CDC TBI Surveillance

Congressional mandates and authorizations

Response to Congress

TBI Model Systems
CDC's Traumatic Brain Injury Surveillance
Program

1989 — promoted development of a multistate TBI
surveillance program
 Federal Interagency Head Injury Task Force Report
 Funding and technical assistance
 Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, and South Carolina

1995 — published Guidelines for Surveillance of Central
Nervous System Injury
 Ensure valid and timely information
 Define the data elements necessary to describe TBI
 Core elements readily available to most State health
departments
The Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996

Develop a uniform reporting system

Research effective strategies for preventing TBI

Implement public information and education programs

Provide technical assistance to public entities

Authorized at $3 million for fiscal years 1997–1999
CDC Response – TBI Act of 1996

Report to Congress on TBI -1999
 Incidence
 Prevalence of TBI
 TBI-related disability

TBI surveillance systems funded in 19 states

Follow-up studies Colorado and South Carolina
TBI Act Amendments of 2000

Signed as Title XIII of the Children’s Health Act of 2000

Implement national education campaign

Fund States or their designees to operate a TBI registry

Determine the incidence and prevalence of TBI in all
age groups in the general population

Determine the incidence and prevalence of mild TBI
CDC Response – TBI Act Amendment of 2000

CDC Heads Up program (2004)

TBI-related deaths, hospitalizations, and ED visits

Funded states to link rehabilitation and social services

CDC Mild TBI Work Group
 Future of registries
 State-based CDC surveillance systems as registries
 Report to Congress (2003)

South Carolina studies of TBI among prisoners
Reauthorization of the TBI Act of 2008

Collaboration between civilian and military registries
Determine the incidence of TBI and prevalence of TBIrelated disability

Report national trends in TBI

Identify common rehabilitation interventions

Identify interventions that can prevent or remediate
secondary neurologic conditions

Develop practice guidelines TBI rehabilitation

CDC Response –Reauthorization Act of 2008

Reports to Congress
 Military (DoD, VA, NIH)
 Civilian (NIH and Expert panel of research scientists)

TBI-related deaths, hospitalizations, and ED visits,
2002–2006
 Demographic characteristics
 External cause of injury
 Trend data

Interagency Agreement
 Department of Education, National Institute of Disability and
Rehabilitation Research
 TBI Model Systems
Thank you
For more information please contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333
Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)/TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov Web: http://www.cdc.gov
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention