Objectives: To describe the current status of survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on selected characteristics and to compare survivors of TBI with survivors of other types of injuries. Hypothesis: Survivors of TBI will differ from other injury groups on various demographic characteristics and current physical symptoms. Participants: Participants in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Injury Control Research Center's Longitudinal Study of Rehabilitation Outcomes. Participants in this cohort include survivors of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, severe burn, and intra-articular fracture. Methods: Information was collected by medical record abstraction and telephone survey. Comparisons were evaluated using chi-square statistics with P values of .05. Results: Survivors of TBI were male, Caucasian, and experiencing chronic pain. Most reported no problem with depression or anxiety. Compared to survivors of other injuries, survivors of TBI were more likely to be male, be more severely injured, and have problems with attention, memory, and vision, but less likely to report joint/muscle pain (all P values < .05). Conclusions: There is no indication that the physical complaints reported by TBI survivors are caused by the original injury, but the complaints are within the cognitive and sensory domain. Further investigation of the long-term cognitive and sensory sequelae of brain injury is warranted.

Acknowledgment

This study was supported in part by grant no. R49/CE000191 from the US Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Injury Control Research Center.