Incidence and prevalence of acquired brain injury in children and young people globally: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction: Acquired brain injury refers to any injury or damage to the brain post-birth. It is considered a silent epidemic due to late or missed diagnosis, despite continued interaction with healthcare and longer-term impacts. There is a paucity of robust contemporary evidence that quantifies the population burden of childhood acquired brain injuries. This study aims to estimate the global burden of childhood acquired brain injury by pooling estimates of incidence and prevalence overall, by subtype, and by severity. We will assess variation by time, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and geography. Methods & analyses: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Scopus publication databases will be searched. Eligible studies will have acquired brain injury incidence or prevalence data on 0–18-year-old individuals within a defined general population-based group from the year 2000 onward. Study design, acquired brain injury and baseline characteristics will be extracted, and quality will be assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist. A random effects meta-analysis will be conducted to pool incidence and prevalence. To assess heterogeneity where there is sufficient data availability, subgroup meta-analyses and a meta-regression will be performed by time, age, sex, ethnicity, health/clinical factors, preexisting conditions, socioeconomic factors, country or geographic region. Ethics & dissemination: No formal ethics approval is needed due to no primary data collection. Dissemination will be through peer-reviewed publication and contribution to a PhD thesis developing the utility of routinely collected healthcare data to study acquired brain injury. Results will quantify the burden of childhood acquired brain injury by providing a comprehensive synthesis of global data, identifying geographical disparities and data gaps. This review will be beneficial to healthcare professionals and policymakers. Registration with PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD420250654936).