SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2026
Severe traumatic brain injury and long-term survival: a meta-analysis on life expectancy and mortality trends.
Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Post-Translational Modifications in Traumatic Brain Injury: Decoding the Proteomic Landscape and Molecular Mechanisms of Secondary Injury.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Review
- Safety, Feasibility, and Exploratory Functional Changes During GRILLO© Gait Trainer Use in Adults with Severe Acquired Brain Injury: A Retrospective Observational Study.Brain sciences · 2026Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
introductionTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with sustained excess mortality and reduced life expectancy compared with demographically matched populations. Our aim was to clarify the magnitude of this burden and its modifiers. MATERIAL AND
methodsA random-effects meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies published through July 2025 was performed. PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, PEDro, and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting standardized mortality ratios or life-expectancy data.
resultsThe overall pooled standardized mortality ratio was 3.19 (95% CI 2.59–3.92; I² = 67.4%), estimated by restricted maximum likelihood with Hartung–Knapp adjustment. Analyses stratified by data-collection era demonstrated a progressive decline in relative mortality from 3.95 (1974–1987) to 2.18 (2004–2019; p = 0.002). Injury-severity gradients based on Glasgow Coma Scale yielded ratios of 4.51, 2.84, and 1.67 for severe, moderate, and mild injuries, respectively (p < 0.001). Age-specific analyses in contemporary cohorts showed the highest relative risk in middle-aged survivors (SMR 7.18 for ages 35–54) and lower ratios in older groups (SMR 2.41 for ≥ 75 years). Mortality peaked within two years post-injury (SMR 6.34) but remained elevated beyond ten years (SMR 2.87). Meta-regression identified study era, follow-up duration, mean age, proportion of severe cases, and sample size as key modifiers, explaining 84.7% of between-study variance. Weighted mean life-expectancy reduction across eight cohorts was 7.6 years.
conclusionThese findings quantify long-term survival burden after TBI and support the development of comprehensive, lifelong management strategies.
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