BIAA Publishes New State of Brain Injury Report

Recognizing the need for a comprehensive look at the current state of brain injury in America, the Brain Injury Association of America has published The 2026 State of Brain Injury Report.

A collaboration from distinguished leaders in the field of brain injury and neurorehabilitation, The State of Brain Injury explores the impact that acquired brain injury has on millions of Americans – not just those who sustain brain injuries, but their families, caregivers, and communities.

Brain injury, whether from trauma, stroke, or other causes, is a major public health challenge with immense personal, societal, and economic impacts. Thanks to advances in science and care, more people than ever are surviving and striving after brain trauma. However, barriers to care, a lack of awareness, underdiagnosis, and the chronic nature of brain injury have resulted in an incomplete representation of brain injury, with millions of survivors and their loved ones navigating a fragmented, inconsistent, under-resourced system.

“Despite its prevalence in America and the need for a comprehensive look at brain injury in this country, we haven’t had a document this comprehensive and up-to-date in a long time,” said Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America. “As leaders in the brain injury community, it is incumbent on us to accurately portray the scale of brain injury in America and what needs to be done to address it.”

The State of Brain Injury includes information about the number of Americans affected annually by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other types of acquired brain injury, including stroke; anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries caused by cardiac arrest, drowning, and drug overdose; and brain and central nervous system tumors. It also outlines populations at greater risk for brain injury, common comorbidities and health risks survivors face after injury, breakthrough advances in the field of brain injury, and the financial cost of brain injury in the U.S.

The full report can be downloaded here.

The Brain Injury Association of America is grateful to the following contributors:

Cindy B. Ivanhoe, MD
Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, PhD, FACRM
Shannon Juengst, PhD, CRC, FACRM
Librada Callender, PhD, MPH
Michael W. Hartford, LFACHE
Anne Deutsch, PhD, RN, CRRN, FACRM, FARN, FAAN
Monique R. Pappadis, PhD, MEd, FACRM
Christine Nelson, MBA, M.Ed, MOT
Magali Haas, MD, PhD
Dawn Neumann, PhD, FACRM (she/her)
Kristen Dams-O’Connor, Ph.D.
Shanti M. Pinto, MD, MSCS
Amanda Rabinowitz, PhD