New study gauges outcome of war-time brain injuries

A new study recently published by JAMA Neurology studies the outcome of service members who have been diagnosed with concussive blast traumatic brain injury (TBI). While many wartime brain injuries are mild, such as mild concussions, some cause more permanent damage to the brain and can have long-lasting effects. “The study by Christine L. Mac […]

A new study recently published by JAMA Neurology studies the outcome of service members who have been diagnosed with concussive blast traumatic brain injury( TBI).

While many wartime brain injuries are mild, such as mild concussions, some cause more permanent damage to the brain and can have long-lasting effects.

“The study by Christine L. Mac Donald, Ph.D., of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and coauthors included 50 active-duty U.S. military service members with concussive blast TBI and 44 service members who were combat-deployed but had no TBI,” according to an article published on the Science Daily website.

The service members were part of the study between 2008 and 2013 in Afghanistan or after being evacuated to a medical center located in Germany.

Clinical evaluations were completed after one and five years in the United States.

“Overall, 36 of the 50 patients with concussive blast TBI (72 percent) had a decline in an overall measure of disability from the one- to five-year evaluations, according to the results,” the article reads.

Some of the issues service members who had been diagnosed with concussive blast TBI dealt with as opposed to those without a TBI included, but were not limited to psychiatric problems, quality of life, neurobehavioral symptom severity, and sleep impairment.

Cognitive issues were reportedly no different between the two groups at the evaluation after five years, according to the article.

“Risk factors for poor outcomes after five years appear to be brain injury diagnosis, pre-injury intelligence, motor strength, verbal fluency and neurobehavioral symptom severity at one year, the authors report,” the article reads.

Also revealed in the study:

Eighty percent of those with a TBI reported seeking help from a licensed mental health professional, but only nine combat-deployed service patients with concussive blast TBI (18 percent) reported that mental health programs helped, according to the results.

The study notes some limitations, including its modest sample size.

“ Together these findings indicate progression of symptom severity beyond one year after injury. Many service members with concussive blast TBI experience evolution rather than resolution of symptoms from the one- to five-year outcomes. Even a small percentage of combat-deployed controls appeared to experience worsening over time. …”