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Traumatic Brain Injury

According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC), 1.7 million people are diagnosed with a brain injury each year.

What is Traumatic Brain Injury—or TBI?

TBI occurs as the result from a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Categories for TBI are:

  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe
  • Penetrating

The most common form of TBI in the military is mild, and is also known as a concussion.

According to the Defense Health Agency Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence (TBICoE), 444,328 service members have been diagnosed with a first-time TBI since 2000. The most common form of TBI in the military is mild, and is also known as a concussion. To learn more about TBI numbers, visit the DOD TBI Worldwide Numbers page.

Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness

TBI Topic Page Review Form

The Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence (TBICoE) manages the content on the Health.mil Traumatic Brain Injury Topic Page for the Defense Health Agency (DHA). To submit content for review and approval to this page, Military Health System agencies and other government partners can download and email this form, along with attached content in a Word document, to the TBICoE website manager at dha.TBICoEinfo@mail.mil.

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Concussion Awareness V1

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8/3/2021
Social media infographic on September 17

According to the Defense Health Agency Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence (TBICoE), 439,609 service members have been diagnosed with a first-time TBI since 2000. The most common form of TBI in the military is mild, and is also known as a concussion.

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Did You Know? Concussions - Mild TBI

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8/3/2021
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Concussions are the most common form or Traumatic Brain Injury in the Military. Be TBI ready!

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Brain Injury Awareness Month "Be TBI Ready" Infographic

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2/24/2021
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Be TBI Ready. A traumatic brain injury—or TBI—is a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of the TBI is determined at the time of the injury and may be classified as: mild, moderate, severe, or penetrating.

During Brain Injury Awareness Month, TBICoE and the MHS will promote the theme “Be TBI Ready” — recognizing that health care providers and others in the military community need to be aware of the latest educational trainings, research, fact sheets, and other available resources to prevent, diagnose, and treat TBI.

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Returning to Duty After Concussion

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2/24/2021
What's the best way to recover from a concussion? Returning to duty too soon after a concussion can lead to prolonged symptoms, decreased readiness, poor marksmanship, accidents and falls, and increased risk of more concussions. Progressively increasing activity in a step-wise manner can help you resolve your symptoms and return to duty safely. Ask your primary health care provider about TBICoE's Progressive Return to Activity to help you return to duty as quickly and safely as possible. Visit health.mil/TBICoE.

This TBICoE infographic gives an overview of the risks of returning to duty too soon after a concussion and explains how a progressive increase in activity can help get you back to duty safely. Returning to duty too soon after concussion can lead to prolonged symptoms, poor marksmanship, decreased readiness, accidents and falls, and increased risk of more concussions.

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Sleep After Concussion

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2/18/2021
Sleep After Concussion. Service members with TBI report 3 times more sleep problems. TBIs can happen anywhere, only 16.9 percent of TBIs happen while deployed. Visit health.mil/TBIFactSheets to learn more about sleep problems and how to improve them

"Sleep After Concussion" is intended for patients and caregivers of those who have sustained a TBI. The infographic reviews general information of sleep-related concerns and points towards additional educational resources.

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Sleep After mTBI

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"Sleep After mTBI" is intended for providers to show the importance of screening and treating service members affected by sleep issues following mTBI.

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Diagnoses of Traumatic Brain Injury Not Clearly Associated with Deployment, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2001 – 2016

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4/4/2017
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is structural alteration of the brain or physiological disruption of brain function caused by an external force. TBI, particularly mild TBI or concussion, is the most common traumatic injury in the U.S. military. This analysis provides the estimated rates of incident TBIs among service members before their first-ever deployment as well as separately among service members during deployments/ after deployments. It also mentions factors that may explain why the TBI incidence rates among the previously deployed were higher than those of the never-deployed group. Moreover, it describes the demographic and military traits of service members diagnosed as TBI cases (before/after deployment). Categorization of person time during surveillance period included four categories: Group 1 (Never deployed/TBI before first-ever deployment), Group 2 (Currently deployed or within 30 days of return), Group 3 (previously deployed but not currently deployed nor within 30 days of return) and Censored after Diagnosis of TBI. From 2001-2016, 276,858 active component service members received first-time diagnoses of TBI. The crude overall incidence rate of TBI among deployed service members was 1.5 times that of service members assigned to Group 1 and 1.2 times that of service members in Group 3 during the surveillance period. Total TBI cases by group were Group 1 42.8%, Group 2 13.2% and Group 3 44.0%. Incidence rates by group (per 100,000 person-years) were Group 1 1,141.3, Group 2 1,690.5, and Group 3 1,451.2. Learn more at www.Health.mil/MSMR and see fact sheets at www.Health.mil/AFHSB

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is structural alteration of the brain or physiological disruption of brain function caused by an external force. TBI, particularly mild TBI or concussion, is the most common traumatic injury in the U.S. military. This analysis provides the estimated rates of incident TBIs among service members before their first-ever deployment as well as separately among service members during deployments/ after deployments. It also mentions factors that may explain why the TBI incidence rates among the previously deployed were higher than those of the never-deployed group. Moreover, it describes the demographic and military traits of service members diagnosed as TBI cases (before/after deployment).

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