Common Symptoms of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Work Functioning of Active-Duty Service Members with a History of Deployment

Patrick Richard, Nilam Patel, Daniel Gedeon, Regine Hyppolite and Mustafa Younis
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Patrick Richard: Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Nilam Patel: The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Daniel Gedeon: The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Regine Hyppolite: The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Mustafa Younis: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: This study used data from the Military Health System Data Repository to examine the association between mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and work functioning such as work duty limitations, hospital emergency room visits and inpatient admissions for active-duty service members (ADSMs). Further, this study assessed the role that common symptoms of mTBI play in work functioning. Multivariate results showed that having a mTBI diagnosis is not a major factor that results in being “released with work duty limitations”. However, findings from these regression models also showed that the interaction of mTBI with cognitive and linguistic symptoms resulted in odds of 3.63 (CI: 1.40–9.36, p < 0.01) for being “released with work duty limitations” and odds of 4.98 (CI: 1.16–21.39, p < 0.05) for having any emergency department visits compared to those with no diagnosis of mTBI and none of these symptoms. Additionally, the interaction of mTBI with sleep disturbance and chronic pain showed odds of 2.72 (CI: 1.31–5.65, p < 0.01) and odds of 11.56 (CI: 2.65–50.44, p < 0.01) for being “released with work duty limitations” compared to those with no diagnosis of TBI and none of these symptoms, respectively. Further research is needed to investigate the association between mTBI and duration of time off work to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effect of mTBI on work functioning in the Military Health System.

Keywords: work functioning; mild traumatic brain injury; active-duty service members; Military Health System (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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