TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Racial/ethnic differences in combat- and non-combat-associated traumatic brain injury severity in the Veterans Health Administration: 2004-2010
JO  - American journal of public health
A1  - Dismuke, Clara E.
A1  - Gebregziabher, Mulugeta
A1  - Yeager, Derik
A1  - Egede, Leonard E.
SP  - 1696
EP  - 1702
VL  - 105
IS  - 8
N2  - OBJECTIVEs. We examined the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity and combat exposure by race/ethnicity.<br><br>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.<br><br>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).<br><br>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. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 11, 2015: e1-e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302545)<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0090-0036
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302545
ID  - ref1
ER  -