Department of Defense Numbers for Traumatic Brain Injury
Welcome to the Military Health System (MHS) site for numbers of service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI). This information is designed to provide service members, their families, veterans, the general public, and other concerned citizens with the most comprehensive and accurate figures available regarding diagnosed cases of TBI within the U.S. military.
Information posted here is collected from electronic medical records and analyzed by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in cooperation with the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. Numbers for the current year will be updated on a quarterly basis. Other data will be updated annually. At this time, the MHS is unable to provide information regarding cause of injury or location because that information is not available in most medical records.
The numbers below represent actual medical diagnoses of TBI within the U.S. Military. Other, larger numbers routinely reported in the media must be considered inaccurate because they do not reflect actual medical diagnoses. Many of these larger numbers are developed utilizing sources such as the Post Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA) or Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA). However, these documents are assessment tools with TBI screening questions and are not diagnostic tools.
TBI DIAGNOSES BY SEVERITY OF INJURY 2000-2009
Using electronic medical records, the Department of Defense has compiled the number of service members diagnosed with TBI and determined the severity of the injury on an annual basis dating back to 2000. In the table below, please click on the year to see the breakdown by severity and by services.
The severity of injury was ascertained by ICD-9 codes.
Concussion/Mild TBI is characterized by the following: A confused or disoriented state which lasts less than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for up to 30 minutes; memory loss lasting less than 24 hours; and structural brain imaging (MRI or CT scan) yielding normal results.
Moderate TBI is characterized by the following: A confused or disoriented state which lasts more than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for more than 30 minutes but less than 24 hours; memory loss lasting greater than 24 hours but less than seven days; and structural brain imaging yielding normal or abnormal results.
Severe TBI is characterized by the following: A confused or disoriented state which lasts more than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for more than 24 hours; memory loss for more than seven days; and structural brain imaging yielding normal or abnormal results.
Penetrating TBI, or open head injury, is a head injury in which the dura mater, the outer layer of the meninges, is penetrated. Penetrating injuries can be caused by high-velocity projectiles or objects of lower velocity such as knives or bone fragments from a skull fracture that are driven into the brain.
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Calendar year
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Incident diagnoses
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10,963
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11,830
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12,469
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12,886
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13,271
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12,025
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16,873
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23,002
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27,507
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20,199
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* Numbers updated as of Oct. 7, 2009.
Traumatic Brain Injury Frequently Asked Questions