Objective: The Chinese Head Trauma Data Bank (CHTDB) has been established, which includes 7145 hospitalised cases with acute head trauma patients in 47 hospitals. Methods: We explored factors that might affect the outcome of acute traumatic brain injury. Results: There was no statistical difference in the mortality rate between male (7.5%) and female (7.2%) patients (P > 0.05). The mortality rate in children (<18 years), adults (18-65 years) and elderly (>65 years) was 7.3%, 7.2% and 9.0%, respectively (P > 0.05). The mortality rate of patients with mild (2.7%), moderate (5.0%) and severe (21.8%) head trauma was significantly different (P < 0.001). The mortality rate of patients with unilateral tentorial herniation, bilateral tentorial herniation and tonsillar herniation was 24.2%, 60.2% and 78.8% respectively (P < 0.001). The mortality rate of patients with intracranial pressure (ICP) < 20 mmHg, 20-40 mmHg and >40 mmHg was 6.3%, 21.4% and 93.1%, respectively (P < 0.001). The mortality rate of patients with no cerebral contusion, single cerebral contusion and multiple cerebral contusions was 3.9%, 7.8% and 14.8%, respectively (P < 0.001). The mortality rate of patients with and without traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage (tSAH) was 9.5% and 5.4%, respectively (P < 0.001). The mortality rate of patients with no intracranial haematomas, single intracranial haematoma and multiple intracranial haematomas was 5.8%, 8.4% and 20.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The CHTDB, the first head trauma data bank in China, has one of the largest numbers of cases of any head trauma data bank in the world. Our major findings on mortality may be helpful to neurosurgeons for predicting the outcome of acute head trauma patients. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.