One in 45 Australians has an acquired brain injury (ABI)
according to a new report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Disability in Australia: acquired brain
injury, shows that more than two-thirds of all people with ABI
were males.
'Males were more likely to have ABI than females in all age
groups and they were more than twice as likely as females to be
hospitalised with traumatic brain injury,' said Dr Louise O'Rance
of the AIHW's Functioning and Disability Unit.
Acquired brain injury refers to any damage to the brain that
occurs after birth. Common causes include accidents, stroke, lack
of oxygen and degenerative neurological disease.
More than half of all people under 65 years of age whose brain
injury was their main disabling condition said that their injury
was caused by a traffic accident.
'People who have ABI tend to have more complex needs than people
with disability generally,' Dr O'Rance said.
'For example, 36% of people with ABI needed help with basic
daily activities of mobility, selfcare or communication, compared
with 27% of people with disability generally.
The report also found that more than one in three people with
ABI needed cognitive or emotional support.
The report found that 82% of people with ABI also had physical
disabilities, 42% had psychiatric disabilities, 39% had sensory or
speech disabilities and 29% had intellectual disabilities.
'An encouraging trend to come out the study was that the
hospitalisation rate from traumatic brain injury fell by more than
20% among children younger than 15 years of age between 1999-2000
and 2004-05,' Dr O'Rance said.
Almost 12,000 people with ABI used disability services funded
under the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)
in 2004-05, accounting for 6% of all CSTDA-funded service
users.
The CSTDA-funded services most commonly accessed by people with
ABI in 2004-05 were case management (40%), open employment (16%),
therapy support (14%), learning and life skills development (14%)
and in-home accommodation support (10%).
13 December 2007
Further information: Dr Louise O'Rance, AIHW,
tel. +61 2 6244 1102, mob. 0407 915 851.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. +61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of Disability in
Australia: acquired brain injury.