Brain injury in seniors in British Columbia: Its relationship to depression and chronic pain.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant public health issue, not only within British Columbia, but within all of Canada. As the Canadian population ages, it will be important to have information on the antecedents and consequences of brain injury in the elderly. However, as TBI is more common in younger age groups, much of the research has not reflected the experience of seniors (Rapoport & Feinstein, 2000). The elderly are at increased risk for brain injury as they age, and for morbidity and mortality post-TBI (Maurice-Williams, 1999). Outcomes of TBI, including depression and chronic pain (CP), were examined. Cases with CP showed shorter survival time post-TBI than those without CP, after controlling for cancer. Compared to a control group of seniors without TBI, seniors post-TBI were at higher risk of developing depression. Risk of developing new cases of depression was linked to gender and non-traumatic brain injury. No set of variables predicted who would develop CP post-TBI. Logistic discriminant function analyses indicated that psychological variables such as anxiety and insomnia were more strongly associated with CP pre-TBI and non-CP pre-TBI. --Leaf ii.