By the Numbers - Nov. 24, 2014

By the Numbers - Nov. 24, 2014

307,283

The total number of DoD worldwide traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnoses, from 2000 to Q2 2014, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

In an article in JAMA Psychiatry earlier this year -- Treatment of Generalized War-Related Health Concerns: Placing TBI and PTSD in Context -- Charles W. Hoge and Carl A. Castro took a look at TBI as a risk factor for PTSD in an "analytic sample were 1648 active-duty Marine and Navy servicemen who completed predeployment and postdeployment assessments." According to Hoge and Castro:

Probability of PTSD was highest for participants with severe predeployment symptoms, high combat intensity, and deployment-related TBI. Traumatic brain injury doubled or nearly doubled the PTSD rates for participants with less severe predeployment PTSD symptoms.

Even when accounting for predeployment symptoms, prior TBI, and combat intensity, TBI during the most recent deployment is the strongest predictor of postdeployment PTSD symptoms.

Source: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center ( DVBIC)

Source: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center ( DVBIC)