Student Veteran perceptions of facilitators and barriers to achieving academic goals.

According to recent estimates, over 1 million Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans are utilizing the post-9/11 GI Bill to pursue higher education. Data collected by the Department of Defense suggests that greater than 17% of returning Veterans may suffer from mental and physical health disorders, which can negatively affect school performance. The current study explored student Veterans' perceived facilitators and barriers to achieving academic goals. Thirty-one student Veterans completed self-report measures and interviews. Results suggested that Veterans that were reporting problems or symptoms in one mental or physical health domain were likely to be reporting symptoms or problems in others as well. The interview data were coded, and three overarching themes related to barriers and facilitators emerged: person features (e.g., discipline and determination, symptoms and stressors), institutional structure (i.e., what schools and the Department of Veterans Affairs do that was perceived to help or hinder student Veteran success), and policy concerns (i.e., how the structure of the GI Bill affects student Veteran school experience). Results from this research indicate the need for larger studies and program development efforts aimed at enhancing academic outcomes for Veterans.

A meta-analysis of cognitive functioning in older adults with PTSD.

A meta-analysis was conducted to summarize and integrate the literature on the cognitive functioning of older adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that those with PTSD would exhibit worse performance in each of the cognitive domains studied when compared to older adults without PTSD. Major databases were queried and eleven articles met criteria for review. As predicted, there was evidence of worse performance across cognitive measures in older adult samples with PTSD relative to older samples without PTSD. The strongest effect across samples was found for lower test scores in the broad domain of memory among older adults with PTSD, and there was evidence that trauma exposure is uniquely associated with worse performance on tests specific to learning. We outline factors thought to contribute to the interactions among PTSD, cognitive deficits, and the aging process. These findings highlight the need for thorough evaluation of cognitive functioning in older adults with PTSD, particularly in the areas of processing speed, learning, memory, and executive functioning.

The effects of edema on urethral dose following palladium-103 prostate brachytherapy.

The effects of edema on urethral dose after interstitial prostate brachytherapy with palladium-103 (103Pd) were studied. Fifty patients underwent a 90-Gy 103Pd implant followed by dosimetric computed tomography (CT). Twenty-one days later, a Foley catheter was reinserted and a dosimetric CT was repeated. The mean reduction in prostate volume between day 0 and day 21 was 16%. Median prostate D90 on day 0 was 89.7 Gy (range 59.5 to 127) and 99.5 Gy (range 62.5 to 130) on day 21. Median prostate V100 was 90% (range 63 to 98%) on day 0 and 96% (range 66 to 99%) on day 21. Median V150 was 61% (range 31 to 85%) on day 0 and 75% (range 39 to 93%) on day 21. Median urethral D50 was 107 Gy (range 57 to 201) on day 0 and 126 Gy (range 64 to 193) on day 21. Regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the decrease in the prostate volume and the increased urethral D50 (r 0.58, p < 0.05). Acute urinary toxicity was 32% grade 0, 38% grade 1, and 30% grade 2. The median urethral D50 increased by a mean of 18% with a correlation coefficient of 0.58 (p < 0.05). Catheterization of the urethra was well tolerated and was of value in better characterizing urethral dose after 103Pd brachytherapy.