Overview of the institute of medicine's committee search strategy and review process for gulf war and health: long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the strength of the peer-reviewed literature on the evidence for an association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and long-term health outcomes using the association categories established and used by previous Institute of Medicine Committees on Gulf War and Health. The health effects that were evaluated were neurologic, cognitive, social functioning, psychiatric, and other (eg, brain tumor, mortality) outcomes. PARTICIPANTS: Not applicable. DESIGN: A comprehensive search using Medline and PsycINFO databases and a critical review of the peer-reviewed literature on human TBI published between 1960 and 2008. PRIMARY MEASURES: Not applicable. RESULTS: A total of 14302 citations were identified, of which 1933 were reviewed for further scientific merit; of these, 152 studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria that form the basis for the findings and recommendations contained in this topical issue. CONCLUSION: Based on this review, the committee concluded that there was sufficient evidence of a causal relationship for 3 health outcomes with TBI, sufficient evidence of an association for 13 outcomes, limited/suggestive evidence of an association for 10 outcomes, and inadequate/insufficient evidence to determine whether an association exists for 10 outcomes.