New Research: Rehabilitating War Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury
On the special issue of The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, researchers studied the long-term health effects, as well as the treatment and rehabilitation needs of combat veterans and service personnel who suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI).
According to the report, it is estimated that 19% of military personnel will sustain TBI during combat deployment. While most of these injuries are mild, some of the members will develop a ‘post-concussive’ syndrome which could result to chronic cognitive, behavioural, and psychological problems. In his comments, John D. Corrigan, PhD, ABPP, Editor-in-Chief of JHTR says the interplay of TBI, post-concussive symptoms, PTSD, depression, suicidality, pain, and substance abuse is the most challenging problem facing the Department of Defence and VA when treating service members with TBI.
Recent Findings on TBI
The researchers gathered a number of studies on TBI. In a research by the University of Rochester, it was found that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to structural brain damage even in service members with no reported history of mild TBI. According to Dr Corrigan, the trauma brought by blast exposure may have subclinical effects that are associated with PTSD. Such effects may not be experienced at the time of injury. He added that this finding could offer additional support for creating a policy on event-based screening which involved 24-hour removal from combat – a program recently introduced by the Army and Marine Corps in members based in Afghanistan.
Another study highlighted in the report was from the Defence and Veterans Brain Injury Centre which reveals that members who had sustained TBI in the past had more symptoms in the first three months after a subsequent injury, as compared to those who had TBI for the first time. Dr Corrigan says this finding could help determine the short and long-term consequences of TBI, in addition to the severity of the injury sustained.
In another research by the Naval Health Research Centre in San Diego, CA, it was found that members who had mild TBI were more likely to report various health symptoms such as back pain, headache, dizziness, and memory problems. Those who experience dizziness and memory problems are at a higher risk of declining health after TBI.
Dr Corrigan and his team hopes that these findings could help increase awareness on TBI and its consequences. They also look forward to more studies for developing effective approaches and rehabilitation programs for veterans and service members.
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