TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Exploring interactions between traumatic brain injury history and gender on medical comorbidities in military veterans: an epidemiological analysis in the VA Million Veteran Program
JO  - Journal of neurotrauma
A1  - Merritt, Victoria C.
A1  - Gasperi, Marianna
A1  - Yim, Jaelynn
A1  - Ly, Monica T.
A1  - Chanfreau-Coffinier, Catherine
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Epidemiological studies of medical comorbidities and possible gender differences associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are limited, especially among military Veterans. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between TBI history and a wide range of medical conditions in a large, national sample of Veterans, and to explore interactions with gender. Participants of this cross-sectional epidemiological study included 491,604 Veterans (9.9% TBI cases; 8.3% women) who enrolled in the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP). Outcomes of interest were medical comorbidities (i.e., neurological, mental health, circulatory, and other medical conditions) assessed using the MVP Baseline Survey, a self-report questionnaire. Logistic regression models adjusting for age and gender showed that Veterans with TBI history consistently had significantly higher rates of medical comorbidities than controls, with the greatest differences observed across mental health (ORs=2.10-3.61) and neurological (ORs=1.57-6.08) conditions. Similar patterns were found when evaluating men and women separately. Additionally, significant TBI-by-gender interactions were observed, particularly for mental health and neurological comorbidities, such that men with a history of TBI had greater odds of endorsing several of these conditions compared to women with a history of TBI. These findings highlight the array of medical comorbidities experienced by Veterans with a history of TBI and illustrate that clinical outcomes differ for men and women with TBI history. While these results are clinically informative, more research is needed to better understand the role of gender on health conditions in the context of TBI and how gender interacts with other social and cultural factors to influence clinical trajectories following TBI. Ultimately, understanding the biological, psychological, and social mechanisms underlying these comorbidities may help with tailoring TBI treatment by gender and improve quality of life for Veterans with TBI history.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0897-7151
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/neu.2023.0174
ID  - ref1
ER  -