Comparing Outcomes of the Veterans Health Administration's Traumatic Brain Injury and Mental Health Screening Programs: Types and Frequency of Specialty Services Used.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) screens veterans who deployed in support of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mental health (MH) disorders. Chronic symptoms after mild TBI overlap with MH symptoms, for which there are already established screens within the VHA. It is unclear whether the TBI screen facilitates treatment for appropriate specialty care over and beyond the MH screens. Our primary objective was to determine whether TBI screening is associated with different types (MH, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation [PM&R], and Neurology) and frequency of specialty services compared with the MH screens. A retrospective cohort design examined veterans receiving VHA care who were screened for both TBI and MH disorders between Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and FY 2018 (N = 241,136). We calculated service utilization counts in MH, PM&R, and Neurology in the six months after the screens. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models of encounters (counts) were fit separately by specialty care type and for a total count of specialty services. We found that screening positive for TBI resulted in 2.38 times more specialty service encounters than screening negative for TBI. Compared with screening positive for MH only, screening positive for both MH and TBI resulted in 1.78 times more specialty service encounters and 1.33 times more MH encounters. The TBI screen appears to increase use of MH, PM&R, and Neurology services for veterans with post-deployment health concerns, even in those also identified as having a possible MH disorder.

A Systems Science Approach to Understanding Polytrauma and Blast-Related Injury: Bayesian Network Model of Data From a Survey of the Florida National Guard.

We sought to further define the epidemiology of the complex, multiple injuries collectively known as polytrauma/blast-related injury (PT/BRI). Using a systems science approach, we performed Bayesian network modeling to find the most accurate representation of the complex system of PT/BRI and identify key variables for understanding the subsequent effects of blast exposure in a sample of Florida National Guard members (1,443 deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom and 1,655 not deployed) who completed an online survey during the period from 2009 to 2010. We found that postdeployment symptoms reported as present at the time of the survey were largely independent of deployment per se. Blast exposure, not mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), acted as the primary military deployment-related driver of PT/BRI symptoms. Blast exposure was indirectly linked to mild TBI via other deployment-related traumas and was a significant risk for a high level of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arousal symptoms. PTSD arousal symptoms and tinnitus were directly dependent upon blast exposure, with both acting as bridge symptoms to other postdeployment mental health and physical symptoms, respectively. Neurobehavioral or postconcussion-like symptoms had no significant dependence relationship with mild TBI, but they were synergistic with blast exposure in influencing PTSD arousal symptoms. A replication of this analysis using a larger PT/BRI database is warranted.

Development and Initial Validation of Military Deployment-Related TBI Quality-of-Life Item Banks.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate unique factors that affect health-related quality of life (QOL) in individuals with military deployment-related traumatic brain injury (MDR-TBI) and to develop appropriate assessment tools, consistent with the TBI-QOL/PROMIS/Neuro-QOL systems. PARTICIPANTS: Three focus groups from each of the 4 Veterans Administration (VA) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers, consisting of 20 veterans with mild to severe MDR-TBI, and 36 VA providers were involved in early stage of new item banks development. The item banks were field tested in a sample (N = 485) of veterans enrolled in VA and diagnosed with an MDR-TBI. DESIGN: Focus groups and survey. OUTCOME MEASURES: Developed item banks and short forms for Guilt, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder/Trauma, and Military-Related Loss. RESULTS: Three new item banks representing unique domains of MDR-TBI health outcomes were created: 15 new Posttraumatic Stress Disorder items plus 16 SCI-QOL legacy Trauma items, 37 new Military-Related Loss items plus 18 TBI-QOL legacy Grief/Loss items, and 33 new Guilt items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses plus bifactor analysis of the items supported sufficient unidimensionality of the new item pools. Convergent and discriminant analyses results, as well as known group comparisons, provided initial support for the validity and clinical utility of the new item response theory-calibrated item banks and their short forms. CONCLUSION: This work provides a unique opportunity to identify issues specific to individuals with MDR-TBI and ensure that they are captured in QOL assessment, thus extending the existing TBI-QOL measurement system.

Impact of family caregiving by youth on their psychological well-being: a latent trait analysis.

Secondary data analyses were conducted on a survey dataset from 1,281 middle school students to analyze the impact of family caregiving on self-reports of psychological well-being using the Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model. Factor analysis resulted in four latent factors underlying psychological functioning, and the MIMIC model revealed significant caregiver effects on three factors: anxiety/depression, engaged coping, and disengaged coping, but not life satisfaction. Youth caregivers, especially those living with the care recipient, reported significantly higher anxiety/depression and a greater use of both coping styles compared to non-caregivers. Caregiving has a negative influence on the emotional well-being of youth with dual student-caregiver roles. The utilization of more coping strategies may reflect needing to try many approaches to school/family stressors because supports and experience are limited. Research to clarify how caregiving mediates the behavioral health and academic success of youth and also impacts care recipients and the family is warranted.