The influence of gender on the injury severity, course and outcome of traumatic brain injury

Objective: To examine the independent association of gender with injury severity, clinical course, pituitary dysfunction and outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI).Design: Prospective cohort, analysis of a data sub-set collected as part of the nation-wide database ‘The Structured Data Assessment of Hypopituitarism after TBI and SAH’.Methods and procedures: Four hundred and twenty-seven patients following TBI were observed from acute care through neurological rehabilitation. Outcome was measured by Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), employment status and living situation post-injury. As a secondary outcome measure anterior pituitary function was assessed.Results: There were no differences in injury severity between men and women. Age had a significant effect on the GCS score (p = 0.0295), but gender did not (p = 0.4105). The outcome was equivalent between men and women once corrected for age. Logistic regression revealed that gender had no effect (p = 0.8008), but age (p = 0.0021) and initial injury severity...