Postconcussive Symptoms in OEF-OIF Veterans: Factor Structure and Impact of Posttraumatic Stress

Purpose: Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are reporting postconcussive symptoms (PCSx) in addition to experiencing postdeployment physical and emotional comorbidities. The Veterans Health Administration has mandated specialized evaluation and treatment for veterans with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rehabilitation psychology 2009-08, Vol.54 (3), p.270-278
Main Authors: Benge, Jared F, Pastorek, Nicholas J, Thornton, G. Matthew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Afghan Campaign 2001
Brain Concussion
Brain Concussion - epidemiology
Brain Concussion - psychology
Brain Concussion - rehabilitation
Comorbidity
Factor Analysis
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Factor Structure
Factor structures
Female
Hospitals, Veterans
Human
Humans
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Male
Measurement
Military Veterans
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Self Disclosure
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - rehabilitation
Symptoms
Traumatic Brain Injury
United States - epidemiology
Veterans
Veterans - psychology
Veterans - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Purpose: Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are reporting postconcussive symptoms (PCSx) in addition to experiencing postdeployment physical and emotional comorbidities. The Veterans Health Administration has mandated specialized evaluation and treatment for veterans with a history of mTBI and has suggested widespread use of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) as a measure of PCSx. This study evaluated the NSI's factor structure and assessed the impact of posttraumatic stress (PTS) on the scale at the item and factor levels. Research Method: Five hundred twenty-nine charts of returning veterans who screened positive for traumatic brain injury were reviewed, and 345 who met criteria for mTBI were included in the study. Results: Results of factor analysis on the NSI revealed a difficult-to-interpret factor structure that was inconsistent with the results of civilian studies. PTS explained 5%-38% of the variance in individual PCSx, and after controlling for this variance, the factor structure more closely paralleled findings from the civilian literature. Conclusion: PTS is an important variable to account for when evaluating PCSx in veterans. Research and clinical implications for the measurement and interpretation of self-reported PCSx are discussed.
ISSN:0090-5550
1939-1544
DOI:10.1037/a0016736