Role of Department of Defense Policies in Identifying Traumatic Brain Injuries Among Deployed US Service Members, 2001–2016

Bibliographic Data

ID11025640
AuthorsYll Agimi (0000-0002-4004-2382, All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Lemma Ebssa Regasa (All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Brian Ivins (0000-0002-7880-2009, All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Saafan Malik (All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Katherine Helmick (All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Donald Marion (All of the authors are with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD. Yll Agimi is also with Salient CRGT, Springfield, VA. Lemma Ebssa Regasa, Brian Ivins, and Donald Marion are also with General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, VA.), Donald W Marion (0000-0003-4627-7702, Defense Health Agency)
Year2018
Volume108
Issue5
Pages683-688
Publication date2018-05-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2018.304347
PMID29565670
OpenAlexW2793069137
LanguageEN
References cited17

Objectives. To examine the role of Department of Defense policies in identifying theater-sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Methods. We conducted a retrospective study of 48 172 US military service members who sustained their first lifetime TBIs between 2001 and 2016 while deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. We used multivariable negative binomial models to examine the changes in TBI incidence rates following the introduction of Department of Defense policies. Results. Two Army policies encouraging TBI reporting were associated with an increase of 251% and 97% in TBIs identified following their implementation, respectively. Among airmen, the introduction of TBI-specific screening questions to the Post-Deployment Health Assessment was associated with a 78% increase in reported TBIs. The 2010 Department of Defense Directive Type Memorandum 09-033 was associated with another increase of 80% in the likelihood of being identified with a TBI among soldiers, a 51% increase among sailors, and a 124% increase among Marines. Conclusions. Department of Defense and service-specific policies introduced between 2006 and 2013 significantly increased the number of battlefield TBIs identified, successfully improving the longstanding problem of underreporting of TBIs

Concussion · Criminology · Emergency department · Environmental health · Health department · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Memorandum · Military personnel · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Police department · Political science · Psychiatry · Public health · Service member · Suicide prevention · Traumatic brain injury · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Trauma and Emergency Care Studies · Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances · Traumatic Brain Injury Research

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access