Citation

Martindale SL, Rowland JA, Shura RD, Taber KH. Brain Inj. 2018; 32(10): 1208-1216.

Affiliation

Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , TX , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699052.2018.1492741

PMID

29985673

Abstract

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate preliminary data on longitudinal changes in psychiatric, neurobehavioural, and neuroimaging findings in Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans following blast exposure. RESEARCH DESIGN: Longitudinal observational analysis.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Participants were invited to participate in two research projects approximately 7 years apart. For each project, veterans completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders and/or the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Chi-squared tests indicated no significant changes in current psychiatric diagnoses, traumatic brain injury (TBI) history, or blast exposure history between assessment visits. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests indicated significant increases in median neurobehavioural symptoms, total number of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and total WMH volume between assessment visits. Spearman rank correlations indicated no significant associations between change in psychiatric diagnoses, TBI history, blast exposure history, or neurobehavioural symptoms and change in WMH.

CONCLUSION: MRI WMH changes were not associated with changes in psychiatric diagnoses or symptom burden, but were associated with severity of blast exposure. Future, larger studies might further evaluate presence and aetiology of long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms and MRI findings in blast-exposed populations.

Language: en

Keywords

Blast exposure; depression; military; posttraumatic stress disorder; traumatic brain injury