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JAMA Network Open

Spouse’s traumatic brain injury linked to higher death risk

Death risk was higher, with a hazard ratio—a measure of relative risk over time—of 1.24 compared with partners whose spouse had no traumatic brain injury.

Paper by Bernadette A. D’Alonzo, Connor A. Law, James R. Pike, +7 more authorsAndrea L. C. Schneider · University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Figure 1 from JAMA Network Open
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Figure 1. D’Alonzo et al.

Our read

Populations
Studied:
Cohort study of 6,562 married partners, median 19.5 years, against partners whose spouse had no TBI
What changed:
Death risk was higher among partners whose spouse had a traumatic brain injury (hazard ratio 1.24)
The catch:
Mortality analyses retained only 3281 of 4506 baseline spousal pairs
Why it’s aging research:
Biological age, frailty, function, multimorbidity or death.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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An observational study followed 6,562 married adults whose average age at enrollment was 54.5 years. The 3,281 couples came from four US centers. Researchers followed participants for a median of 19.5 years and examined whether a spouse’s traumatic brain injury was linked to the uninjured partner’s health. Their analyses accounted for demographic, health and behavioral characteristics.

Having a spouse who sustained a traumatic brain injury was associated with a modestly higher risk of death. Researchers found no clear association with dementia or major heart and blood vessel events. Associations were similar in men and women. The analysis of heart and blood vessel events included 2,740 couples.

Why it matters

Traumatic brain injury is common in older adults. The authors suggested that its consequences may extend beyond injured people, supporting care that includes families and care partners.

Caveats

This observational study cannot show that a spouse’s injury caused the higher death risk. The findings came from married adults at four US centers and may not apply to unmarried partners.

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