Subdural hematoma is associated with worse outcome and increased mortality, while people with epidural hematoma are expected to have a good outcome if they receive surgery quickly. Diffuse axonal injury may be associated with coma when severe, and poor outcome. Following the acute stage, prognosis is strongly influenced by the patients involvement in activity that promote recovery, which for most patients requires access to a specialised, intensive rehabilitation service. The Functional Independence Measure is a way to track progress and degree of independence throughout rehabilitation.Medical complications are associated with a bad prognosis. Examples of such complications include: hypotension (low blood pressure), hypoxia (low blood oxygen saturation), lower cerebral perfusion pressures, and longer times spent with high intracranial pressures. Patient characteristics also influence prognosis. Examples of factors thought to worsen it include: abuse of substances such as illicit drugs and alcohol and age over sixty or under two years (in children, younger age at time of injury may be associated with a slower recovery of some abilities). Other influences that may affect recovery include pre-injury intellectual ability, coping strategies, personality traits, family environment, social support systems and financial circumstances.Life satisfaction has been known to decrease for individuals with TBI immediately following the trauma, but evidence has shown that life roles, age, and depressive symptoms influence the trajectory of life satisfaction as time passes. Many people with traumatic brain injuries have poor physical fitness following their acute injury and this may result with difficulties in day-to-day activities and increased levels of fatigue.
Counseling, supported employment and community support services may also be useful. TBI is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, especially in children and young adults. Males sustain traumatic brain injuries around twice as often as females. The 20th century saw developments in diagnosis and treatment that decreased death rates and improved outcomes. Classification
Traumatic brain injury is defined as damage to the brain resulting from external mechanical force, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration, impact, blast waves, or penetration by a projectile. Brain function is temporarily or permanently impaired and structural damage may or may not be detectable with current technology.TBI is one of two subsets of acquired brain injury (brain damage that occur after birth); the other subset is non-traumatic brain injury, which does not involve external mechanical force (examples include stroke and infection). All traumatic brain injuries are head injuries, but the latter term may also refer to injury to other parts of the head. However, the terms head injury and brain injury are often used interchangeably. Similarly, brain injuries fall under the classification of central nervous system injuries and neurotrauma. In neuropsychology research literature, in general the term "traumatic brain injury" is used to refer to non-penetrating traumatic brain injuries. TBI is usually classified based on severity, anatomical features of the injury, and the mechanism (the causative forces). Mechanism-related classification divides TBI into closed and penetrating head injury. A closed (also called nonpenetrating, or blunt) injury occurs when the brain is not exposed.