Patient/caregiver was instructed upon risk factors and causes for head injury as follows:
Falls and accidents:
- Falls & accidents are the most common cause of head injury in senior citizens, bumping their head onto some hard surface, such as, a wall or floor.
- The injury can be mild to severe during a fall. When the injury is mild, the individual can suffer a mild skin bruise with some minimal swelling of the head at the site of impact that can resolve in due course of time.
- When the injury is severe, the individual can also suffer from concussion.
- The concussion injury can be severe enough to cause brain damage, due to the brain receiving a sudden jolt, hitting against hard surfaces, such as, head hitting against the floor during falls.
Motor vehicle accidents:
- Head injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents can also be an example of concussion injury, when the head comes to a sudden halt on abruptly applying breaks or bumping of head against steering wheel or colliding of head against windshield.
- The brain inside the skull continues to be in motion though and hits against the internal hard surface of the skull, thus causing a concussion brain damage.
Physical assaults:
- Domestic violence and physical assault on seniors by caregivers also contribute a fair share to head injuries.
- Injuries involving the head, with the head hit by a baseball bat or a metal rod or some other hard object is a typical example.
Other:
- Many other interplaying factors such as, motor weakness, medication side-effects, overdose of medications, noncompliance with recommended medication precautions, noncompliance with use of assistive devices, dementia, and poorly regulated blood pressure & blood sugar numbers can also contribute significantly to fall risk and head injury in senior citizens.
