Objective To evaluate whether neurobehavioral symptoms differ between groups of Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) classified by health characteristics. Participants A total of 71 934 post-9/11 Veterans with mTBI from the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium Epidemiology warfighter cohort. Design Cross-sectional analysis of retrospective cohort. Main measures Health phenotypes identified using latent class analysis of health and function over 5 years. Symptom severity measured using Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory; domains included vestibular, somatic, cognitive, and affective. Results Veterans classified as moderately healthy had the lowest symptom burden while the polytrauma phenotype group had the highest. After accounting for sociodemographic and injury characteristics, polytrauma phenotype Veterans had about 3 times the odds of reporting severe symptoms in each domain compared with moderately healthy Veterans. Those Veterans who were initially moderately healthy but whose health declined over time had about twice the odds of severe symptoms as consistently healthier Veterans. The strongest associations were in the affective domain. Compared with the moderately healthy group, Veterans in other phenotypes were more likely to report symptoms substantially interfered with their daily lives (odds ratio range 1.3-2.8). Conclusion Symptom severity and interference varied by phenotype, including between Veterans with stable and declining health. Ameliorating severe symptoms, particularly in the affective domain, could improve health trajectories following mTBI.Objective To determine the effect of extracranial injury (ECI) on 6-month outcome in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) versus moderate-to-severe TBI. Participants/setting Patients with TBI (n = 135) or isolated orthopedic injury (n = 25) admitted to a UK major trauma center and healthy volunteers (n = 99). Design Case-control observational study. Main measures Primary outcomes (a) Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE), (b) depression, (c) quality of life (QOL), and (d) cognitive impairment including verbal fluency, episodic memory, short-term recognition memory, working memory, sustained attention, and attentional flexibility. Results Outcome was influenced by both TBI severity and concomitant ECI. The influence of ECI was restricted to mild TBI; GOSE, QOL, and depression outcomes were significantly poorer following moderate-to-severe TBI than after isolated mild TBI (but not relative to mild TBI plus ECI). Cognitive impairment was driven solely by TBI severity. General health, bodily pain, semantic verbal fluency, spatial recognition memory, working memory span, and attentional flexibility were unaffected by TBI severity and additional ECI. Conclusion The presence of concomitant ECI ought to be considered alongside brain injury severity when characterizing the functional and neurocognitive effects of TBI, with each presenting challenges to recovery.Objective To create novel Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT)-based embedded validity indicators (EVIs) and to compare the classification accuracy to 4 existing EVIImPACT. Method The ImPACT was administered to 82 male varsity football players during preseason baseline cognitive testing. The classification accuracy of existing EVIImPACT was compared with a newly developed index (ImPACT-5A and B). The ImPACT-5A represents the number of cutoffs failed on the 5 ImPACT composite scores at a liberal cutoff (0.85 specificity); ImPACT-5B is the sum of failures on conservative cutoffs (≥0.90 specificity). https://www.selleckchem.com/ Results ImPACT-5A ≥1 was sensitive (0.81), but not specific (0.49) to invalid performance, consistent with EVIImPACT developed by independent researchers (0.68 sensitivity at 0.73-0.75 specificity). Conversely, ImPACT-5B ≥3 was highly specific (0.98), but insensitive (0.22), similar to Default EVIImPACT (0.04 sensitivity at 1.00 specificity). ImPACT-5A ≥3 or ImPACT-5B ≥2 met forensic standards of specificity (0.91-0.93) at 0.33 to 0.37 sensitivity. Also, the ImPACT-5s had the strongest linear relationship with clinically meaningful levels of invalid performance of existing EVIImPACT. Conclusions The ImPACT-5s were superior to the standard EVIImPACT and comparable to existing aftermarket EVIImPACT, with the flexibility to optimize the detection model for either sensitivity or specificity. The wide range of ImPACT-5 cutoffs allows for a more nuanced clinical interpretation.Background Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant health issue in the US military. The purpose of this study was to estimate the probability of long-term disability among hospitalized service members (SMs) with TBIs, using the South Carolina Traumatic Brain Injury and Follow-up Registry (SCTBIFR) model developed on civilian hospitalized patients. Methods We identified military patients in military or civilian hospitals or theater level 3 to 5 military treatment facilities (MTFs) whose first TBI occurred between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2015. TBI-related disability at 1-year post-hospital discharge was estimated using regression coefficients from the SCTBIFR. Results Among the identified 4877 SMs, an estimated 65.6% of SMs with severe TBI, 56.2% with penetrating TBI, 31.4% with moderate TBI, and 12.0% with mild TBI are predicted to develop long-term disability. TBI patients identified at theater level 4 and 5 MTFs had an average long-term disability rate of 56.9% and 61.1%, respectively. In total, we estimate that 25.2% of all SMs hospitalized with TBI will develop long-term disability. Conclusion Applying SCTBIFR long-term probability estimates to US SMs with TBIs provides useful disability estimates to inform providers and health systems on the likelihood that particular subgroups of TBI patients will require continued support and long-term care.Objective The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population has a disproportionately high rate of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). However, there is little known about incidence and common mechanisms of injury among AI/AN persons who seek care in an Indian Health Service (IHS) or tribally managed facility. Methods Using the IHS National Patient Information Reporting System, we assessed the incidence of TBI-related emergency department visits among AI/AN children and adults seen in IHS or tribally managed facilities over a 10-year period (2005-2014). Results There were 44 918 TBI-related emergency department visits during the study period. Males and persons aged 18 to 34 years and 75 years and older had the highest rates of TBI-related emergency department visits. Unintentional falls and assaults contributed to the highest number and proportion of TBI-related emergency department visits. The number and age-adjusted rate of emergency department visits for TBI were highest among persons living in the Southwest and Northern Plains when compared with other IHS regions.