This population-based study suggests that substance use and developmental factors also play a role.
Aggressive behavior and agitation, which sometimes occur in neuropsychiatric disorders, have an unclear link to violent crime. Researchers examined associations between convictions for violent crime in 1973–2009 and earlier diagnoses of epilepsy or traumatic brain injury (TBI), identified in hospital inpatients or outpatients in Sweden. The study population comprised 22,947 epilepsy patients and 22,914 TBI patients, each matched by age and sex to 10 controls (birth years, 1958–1994). Separate analyses of unaffected siblings were conducted.
Violent convictions occurred in 4.2% of the epilepsy group versus 2.5% of the control group; this significant difference diminished after adjustment for substance use. Rates were higher in patients with pa…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)