Karen Schwab1, Heidi P Terrio2, Lisa A Brenner2, Renee M Pazdan2, Henry P McMillan2, Margaret MacDonald2, Sidney R Hinds2, Ann I Scher2. 1. From The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (K.S., H.P.T., R.M.P., M.M., S.R.H.), Silver Spring; Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics (K.S., A.I.S.), Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD; Evans Army Community Hospital (H.P.T., R.M.P., M.M.), Fort Carson; Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (L.A.B.), Denver; Anschutz Medical Campus (L.A.B.), University of Colorado, Aurora; and Intrepid Spirit (H.P.M.), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Fort Bragg, NC. Current affiliations: Bureau of Prison-Federal Medical Center (H.P.M.), Butner, NC; United States Army Medical Research and Material Command (S.R.H.). Karen.Schwab@usuhs.edu. 2. From The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (K.S., H.P.T., R.M.P., M.M., S.R.H.), Silver Spring; Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics (K.S., A.I.S.), Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD; Evans Army Community Hospital (H.P.T., R.M.P., M.M.), Fort Carson; Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (L.A.B.), Denver; Anschutz Medical Campus (L.A.B.), University of Colorado, Aurora; and Intrepid Spirit (H.P.M.), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Fort Bragg, NC. Current affiliations: Bureau of Prison-Federal Medical Center (H.P.M.), Butner, NC; United States Army Medical Research and Material Command (S.R.H.).
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI; concussion) is common in returning service members yet limited definitive evidence exists on its prognosis. METHODS: Almost 25,000 non-medically evacuated soldiers returning from Afghanistan or Iraq to 2 military bases between 2009 and 2014 were screened for mTBI. We invited a random sample to participate in the present study, oversampling those screening positive, resulting in 557 mTBI cases and 1,010 controls, of whom 366 cases and 599 controls completed 3-month follow-up evaluations. The criterion measure of screened mTBI was the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method. Postconcussive symptoms (PCS) were measured at follow-up with the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory. Symptoms reported at a severe or very severe level were considered clinically relevant. RESULTS: About half (47%) of soldiers who had sustained an mTBI during this latest deployment reported PCS at 3-month follow-up vs 25% of controls: adjusted odds ratio 2.4 (1.8-3.2). The most commonly reported symptoms (cases vs controls) were sleep problems (30% vs 14%), forgetfulness (21% vs 9%), irritability (17% vs 8%), and headaches (15% vs 5%). mTBI cases were about twice as likely as controls to report receiving rehabilitative services and fair or poor health. Other predictors of PCS included posttraumatic stress, combat exposure, and noncephalic pain. A majority of both cases and controls reported traumatic brain injuries predating this latest deployment. CONCLUSIONS: In this nonclinical population of recently deployed soldiers, a substantial proportion of those who had sustained an mTBI were symptomatic 3 months postdeployment. Future studies need to include longer follow-up to measure symptom resolution. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01847040.
OBJECTIVE: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI; concussion) is common in returning service members yet limited definitive evidence exists on its prognosis. METHODS: Almost 25,000 non-medically evacuated soldiers returning from Afghanistan or Iraq to 2 military bases between 2009 and 2014 were screened for mTBI. We invited a random sample to participate in the present study, oversampling those screening positive, resulting in 557 mTBI cases and 1,010 controls, of whom 366 cases and 599 controls completed 3-month follow-up evaluations. The criterion measure of screened mTBI was the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method. Postconcussive symptoms (PCS) were measured at follow-up with the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory. Symptoms reported at a severe or very severe level were considered clinically relevant. RESULTS: About half (47%) of soldiers who had sustained an mTBI during this latest deployment reported PCS at 3-month follow-up vs 25% of controls: adjusted odds ratio 2.4 (1.8-3.2). The most commonly reported symptoms (cases vs controls) were sleep problems (30% vs 14%), forgetfulness (21% vs 9%), irritability (17% vs 8%), and headaches (15% vs 5%). mTBI cases were about twice as likely as controls to report receiving rehabilitative services and fair or poor health. Other predictors of PCS included posttraumatic stress, combat exposure, and noncephalic pain. A majority of both cases and controls reported traumatic brain injuries predating this latest deployment. CONCLUSIONS: In this nonclinical population of recently deployed soldiers, a substantial proportion of those who had sustained an mTBI were symptomatic 3 months postdeployment. Future studies need to include longer follow-up to measure symptom resolution. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01847040.
Authors: Andrew J MacGregor; Amber L Dougherty; Edwin W D'Souza; Cameron T McCabe; Daniel J Crouch; James M Zouris; Jessica R Watrous; John J Fraser Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2021-04-22 Impact factor: 4.147
Authors: Murray B Stein; Sonia Jain; Joseph T Giacino; Harvey Levin; Sureyya Dikmen; Lindsay D Nelson; Mary J Vassar; David O Okonkwo; Ramon Diaz-Arrastia; Claudia S Robertson; Pratik Mukherjee; Michael McCrea; Christine L Mac Donald; John K Yue; Esther Yuh; Xiaoying Sun; Laura Campbell-Sills; Nancy Temkin; Geoffrey T Manley; Opeolu Adeoye; Neeraj Badjatia; Kim Boase; Yelena Bodien; M Ross Bullock; Randall Chesnut; John D Corrigan; Karen Crawford; Ramon Diaz-Arrastia; Sureyya Dikmen; Ann-Christine Duhaime; Richard Ellenbogen; V Ramana Feeser; Adam Ferguson; Brandon Foreman; Raquel Gardner; Etienne Gaudette; Joseph T Giacino; Luis Gonzalez; Shankar Gopinath; Rao Gullapalli; J Claude Hemphill; Gillian Hotz; Sonia Jain; Frederick Korley; Joel Kramer; Natalie Kreitzer; Harvey Levin; Chris Lindsell; Joan Machamer; Christopher Madden; Alastair Martin; Thomas McAllister; Michael McCrea; Randall Merchant; Pratik Mukherjee; Lindsay D Nelson; Florence Noel; David O Okonkwo; Eva Palacios; Daniel Perl; Ava Puccio; Miri Rabinowitz; Claudia S Robertson; Jonathan Rosand; Angelle Sander; Gabriela Satris; David Schnyer; Seth Seabury; Mark Sherer; Murray B Stein; Sabrina Taylor; Arthur Toga; Nancy Temkin; Alex Valadka; Mary J Vassar; Paul Vespa; Kevin Wang; John K Yue; Esther Yuh; Ross Zafonte Journal: JAMA Psychiatry Date: 2019-03-01 Impact factor: 21.596
Authors: Victoria C Merritt; Kristina M Lapira; Alexandra L Clark; Scott F Sorg; Madeleine L Werhane; Amy J Jak; Mark W Bondi; Dawn M Schiehser; Lisa Delano-Wood Journal: Arch Clin Neuropsychol Date: 2019-07-26 Impact factor: 2.813
Authors: Bahar Shahidi; Robyn W Bursch; Jennifer S Carmel; Ashleigh C Carranza; Kelsey M Cooper; Jayme V Lee; Colleen N O'Connor; Scott F Sorg; Katrina S Maluf; Dawn M Schiehser Journal: Mil Med Date: 2021-11-02 Impact factor: 1.437
Authors: Lindsay M Oberman; Shannon Exley; Noah S Philip; Shan H Siddiqi; Maheen M Adamson; David L Brody Journal: J Head Trauma Rehabil Date: 2020 Nov/Dec Impact factor: 3.117
Authors: Ryan J Andrews; Jennifer R Fonda; Laura K Levin; Regina E McGlinchey; William P Milberg Journal: Neurology Date: 2018-07-27 Impact factor: 9.910