Does traumatic brain injury lead to criminality? A whole-population retrospective cohort study using linked data

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be a risk factor for criminal behaviour however multiple factors potentially confound the association. Methods: Record linkage and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to examine the association between hospital-recorded TBI (n = 7,694) and subsequent first criminal conviction in a retrospective cohort matched 1:3 with 22,905 unaffected community controls and full-sibling controls (n = 2,397). Aboriginality, substance abuse, social disadvantage, and mental illness were included in analyses as potential confounders Results: In multivariable models, relative to general population controls, TBI was associated with any conviction (males: Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1·58 (95% CI 1·46 to 1·72); females: HR = 1·52 (95% CI 1·28 to 1·81)); and similar Hazard Ratios were obtained for the sibling analyses in males (HR = 1.68 (95% CI 1.31-2.18)) and females (HR 1.27 (95% CI 0.71-2.29)). TBI was also associated with violent convictions relative to the general population, (males: HR = 1.65 (95% CI 1.42 to 1.92); females HR = 1.73 (95% CI 1.21 to 2.47)), and in analyses with sibling controls in men (HR = 1.89 (95% CI 1.20-3.00)), but not in women (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.29-1.81)). Conclusion: The results support a modest causal link between TBI and criminality after comprehensive adjustment for confounding. Reducing the rate of TBI, a major public health imperative, might have benefits in terms of crime reduction.