Traumatic brain injury: the lag between diagnosis and treatment

Ogburn described the "culture lag" between technology and attitudes, as people take time to assimilate new technologies, and new facts, into their worldviews. Traumatic brain injury is now a common diagnosis, thanks to neurosurgical expertise. Where thirty years ago mortality from head injuries was high, today mortality rates have improved dramatically; yet even while neurosurgeons spare thousands of people each year, our society struggles to develop appropriate rehabilitation protocols. To date, we are in the lag phase, between diagnosis and treatment. This paper discusses that lag, including reasons for the lack of an effective rehabilitation protocol (the paucity of funds for research, the nature of brain injuries per se), the reluctance of insurers to cover brain injury rehabilitation (the lengthy time involved in rehabilitation, the blurring between rehabilitation and long term care, the nature of experience-rated contracting to businesses for health care insurance, the burgeoning of proprietary brain injury rehabilitation centers), and the prospects for closing the gap in the near future. The paper concludes that preventive measures (seat belt laws, motorcycle helmet laws, laws for helmets in contact sports) allow policy-makers to confront the growing societal problem of the mounting census of head-injured, by avoiding that census and focusing instead on the prevention, or diminution, of future head injuries.