Impact of psychiatric symptomatology on neuropsychological assessment performance in persons with TBI: A comparison of OEF/OIF veteran and civilian samples

• Published in: Brain injury 2017-09, Vol.31 (11), p.1422-1428
• Main Authors: Merz, Zachary C., Roskos, P. Tyler, Gfeller, Jeffrey D., Bucholz, Richard D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Afghan Campaign 2001; Analysis of Variance; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - etiology; blast injury; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - etiology; Female; Humans; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; post-traumatic stress disorder; Retrospective Studies; Self Report; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - complications; Trauma Severity Indices; Traumatic brain injury; Veterans - psychology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0269-9052; 1362-301X
• DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2017.1339124

Objective: To assess whether increased incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptomatology in veterans with combat-related traumatic brain injury might help account for neurocognitive impairment relative to civilians with traumatic brain injury. Participants: Neuropsychological assessment data of 53 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans and 48 civilians with positive history of traumatic brain injury were analyzed to assess differences with respect to cognitive performance. Design: Retrospective analysis of data including neurocognitive test performance and self-reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Results: Results showed worse neurocognitive performance (i.e. RBANS Total Index score) in the veteran sample relative to the civilian sample [F(1,99) = 3.92, p = .05, ƞ2 = .04], particularly on tasks measuring attentional capabilities [F(1,99) = 9.18, p = .003, ƞ2 = .09]. Additional analyses found that after controlling for post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology, differences were no longer significant. Broad correlations between measures also showcased attenuated relationships after controlling for both post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptomatology using partial correlations Conclusion: Findings suggest that the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptomatology negatively impacts cognitive performance across neuropsychological assessment above and beyond deficits related to traumatic brain injury.