What is the Affect of Alcohol After a Traumatic Brain injury and Should Alcohol be Avoided?
The problem of substance abuse in TBI survivors has been well-documented in the literature. In her review article, Mtiguy (1991) cites alcohol as a major contributing factor in over 50% of head injuries sustained in the United States. For example, Rimel and Jane (1983) found that 52% of their sample of head injured survivors were legally intoxicated at the time of injury, and 29% had previously received substance abuse treatment. More recently, in their literature review, Delmonico, Hanley-Peterson, & Englander (1998) found that 20-60% of TBI survivors were identified as pre-injury problem drinkers, with 30-50% of these survivors continuing to have problems with alcohol post injury. Similarly, a literature review by Sander, Witol, & Kreutzer (1997) put pre-injury alcohol abuse at 40-66%, and post injury alcohol abuse between 27%-50% of TBI survivors. A seminal study by the National Head Injury Foundation Professional Council (1988) surveyed 1500 TBI survivors from 75 head injury facili
