DoD Worldwide Numbers for Traumatic Brain Injury

Welcome to the Department of Defense (DoD) resource of worldwide numbers for service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) since 2000. This information is designed to provide service members, their families, veterans, the general public and other concerned citizens with the most comprehensive and accurate figures available regarding diagnosed cases of TBI within the U.S. military.

Information posted here is collected from electronic medical records in cooperation with the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC) and reviewed by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC). The DoD provides information that is available in the medical records, most of which do not contain cause of injury or location. The diagnosis and severity of injury were determined using ICD-9 codes.

The numbers below represent actual medical diagnoses of TBI that occurred anywhere U.S. forces are located, including the continental United States. Many of the larger numbers routinely reported in the media are developed using sources such as the Post Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA) or Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA). These questionnaires are not diagnostic tools, but assessment tools with TBI screening questions. They reflect people who say they have certain TBI-related symptoms that may or may not mean they have sustained a TBI. For additional details about the data collection method and source of these TBI numbers, refer to our FAQs. Use our contact form to submit questions.

Click a year to view report of the breakdown by severity and by Armed Forces branch. Incident diagnoses by calendar year.