Racial/Ethnic Differences in Combat- and Non-Combat-Associated Traumatic Brain Injury Severity in the Veterans Health Administration: 2004-2010. Am J Public Health 2015 Aug;105(8):1696-702
Date
06/13/2015Pubmed ID
26066928Pubmed Central ID
PMC4504327DOI
10.2105/AJPH.2014.302545Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84937561896 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 23 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity and combat exposure by race/ethnicity.
METHODS: We estimated logit models of the fully adjusted association of combat exposure with TBI severity in separate race/ethnicity models for a national cohort of 132 995 veterans with TBI between 2004 and 2010.
RESULTS: Of veterans with TBI, 25.8% had served in a combat zone. Mild TBI increased from 11.5% to 40.3%, whereas moderate or severe TBI decreased from 88.5% to 59.7%. Moderate or severe TBI was higher in non-Hispanic Blacks (80.0%) and Hispanics (89.4%) than in non-Hispanic Whites (71.9%). In the fully adjusted all-race/ethnicity model, non-Hispanic Blacks (1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37, 1.52) and Hispanics (1.47; 95% CI = 1.26, 1.72) had higher odds of moderate or severe TBI than did non-Hispanic Whites. However, combat exposure was associated with higher odds of mild TBI in non-Hispanic Blacks (2.48; 95% CI = 2.22, 2.76) and Hispanics (3.42; 95% CI = 1.84, 6.35) than in non-Hispanic Whites (2.17; 95% CI = 2.09, 2.26).
CONCLUSIONS: Research is needed to understand racial differences in the effect of combat exposure on mild TBI and on interventions to prevent TBI across severity levels.
Author List
Dismuke CE, Gebregziabher M, Yeager D, Egede LEAuthor
Leonard E. Egede MD Center Director, Chief, Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Brain Injuries
Female
Hospitals, Veterans
Humans
Injury Severity Score
Male
Middle Aged
United States
Veterans
Warfare
Young Adult
