Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Traumatic Brain Injury Severity, Comorbidity, Social Support, Family Functioning, and Community Reintegration Among Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

Pugh MJ, Swan AA, Carlson KF, Jaramillo CA, Eapen BC, Dillahunt-Aspillaga C, Amuan ME, Delgado RE, McConnell K, Finley EP, Grafman JH, Trajectories of Resilience and Complex Comorbidity Study Team. Traumatic Brain Injury Severity, Comorbidity, Social Support, Family Functioning, and Community Reintegration Among Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation. 2018 Feb 1; 99(2S):S40-S49.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity; social, family, and community reintegration outcomes; and return to work status among post-9/11 veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care. DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study. SETTING: Mail/online survey fielded to a national sample of veterans. PARTICIPANTS: Sample of post-9/11 veterans with at least 3 years of VA care stratified according to TBI severity and comorbidities who completed and returned surveys (N = 2023). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 family functioning and social support subscales; Military to Civilian Questionnaire; and employment status. RESULTS: Bivariate analyses revealed that veterans with every classification of TBI severity reported significantly more difficulty on social, family, and community reintegration outcomes than those with no TBI. In the fully adjusted model, veterans with unclassified and moderate/severe TBI reported significantly more difficulty with community reintegration and were less likely to be employed relative to those with no TBI; those with unclassified TBI also reported significantly more difficulty with family functioning. Veterans with mild TBI also reported significantly more difficulty with community reintegration. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into long-term outcomes associated with TBI in post-9/11 veterans and suggests that exposure to TBI has a negative effect on social and family functioning, community reintegration, and return to work even after controlling for comorbidity, deployment experiences, and sociodemographic characteristics. Additional research is required to explicate what appears to be complex interactions among TBI severity, psychosocial well-being, combat exposures, and socioeconomic resources in this population.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.