Some 2.8 million Americans seek medical attention for traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually, resulting in estimated annual costs of over $75 billion. Older adults have the highest and fastest rising rate of TBI of any other age-group, with 1 in 50 adults age ≥75y seeking medical attention for TBI in 2013. Older adults with TBI experience higher mortality, slower recovery, worse outcomes, and may be at especially high risk for post-TBI dementia. There are few evidence-based guidelines for management, no tools to provide patients and families with reliable estimates of prognosis, and few proven treatments. Progress has been limited by: 1. Systematic exclusion of older disabled patients from most prior prospective TBI studies, and 2. lack of age-appropriate TBI research tools. The objective of TRACK-TBI GERI is to execute a 2-site prospective geriatric TBI cohort study that will directly address these barriers by applying state-of-the-art geriatric research methods to the field of TBI to improve representation of older patients in TBI research, and to develop a novel approach to measuring age appropriate TBI predictors, outcomes, blood-based biomarkers, and neuropathology.
TRACK-TBI GERI has is closed having reached its target enrollment goals of 240 TBI particpants and 90 controls.
If you are interested in learning more about this study, please see the study on Clinicaltrials.gov