Nearly half of homeless men suffer from brain injury

A research study by St.Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada have have experienced at least one traumatic brain injury in their lifetime, and for 87 percent of that group, the brain injuries occurred before the men lost their homes. The study was published on April 25, 2014 in the journal “CMAJ Open.”

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, found that out of 111 homeless men, ages 27 to 81, some 45 percent had suffered a traumatic brain injury during their lifetime. Out of that group, interestingly enough, 87 percent had suffered the TBI(Traumatic Brain Injury) before losing their homes and 70 percent while they were still children. Men under 40 were most likely to have sustained an injury resulting from a drunken fall, while assault was most often the cause for men over 40.

The main causes of brain injuries are assault (60 percent), motor vehicle collisions and falls (42 percent), and sports and recreation (44 percent). The findings were based on data on 111 homeless men ages 27 to 82 years old who were staying in a downtown Toronto shelter.