Predictors of Driving Status in Service Members and Veterans at 1 Year Posttraumatic Brain Injury: A VA TBI Model Systems Study.

Objective: To identify predictors of driving status in service members and veterans 1 year following a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Setting: The 5 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRCs).

Participants: A total of 471 service members and veterans (128 with mild/complicated mild TBI and 343 with moderate/severe TBI) who received TBI-focused inpatient rehabilitation at one of the VA PRCs and who participated in a 1-year postinjury follow-up assessment.

Feasibility of In-Home Sensor Monitoring to Detect Mild Cognitive Impairment in Aging Military Veterans: Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Aging military veterans are an important and growing population who are at an elevated risk for developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer dementia, which emerge insidiously and progress gradually. Traditional clinic-based assessments are administered infrequently, making these visits less ideal to capture the earliest signals of cognitive and daily functioning decline in older adults.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel ecologically valid assessment approach that integrates passive in-home and mobile technologies to assess instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) that are not well captured by clinic-based assessment methods in an aging military veteran sample.

Transcendental meditation for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Objective: Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a mental technique using a mantra to facilitate meditation. TM has a potential for treating symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its clinical efficacy remains to be clarified. This pilot study evaluated the acceptability, preliminary effectiveness, and neurophysiology of TM for veterans with PTSD.

Descriptive Findings of the VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers TBI Model Systems National Database.

Objectives: To present initial descriptive findings from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRC) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems (MS) National Database.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: VA PRC TBIMS National Database.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) paired with a decision-making task reduces risk-taking in a clinically impulsive sample.

Background: Impulsivity is a multidimensional personality trait observed across a variety of psychiatric disorders. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has shown promise as an intervention to reduce impulsivity.

Objective: To investigate the effects of tDCS paired with a decision-making task on risk-taking in Veterans with a clinical history of impulsive behavior.

Postrehabilitation Mental Health Treatment Utilization in Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury: A VA TBI Model Systems Study.

Objective: To identify preinjury variables related to mental health treatment utilization at 2 years post-traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Setting: Veterans Affairs (VA) TBI Model Systems includes 5 VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers.

Participants: Veterans and service members enrolled in TBI Model Systems who completed the year 2 follow-up assessment and provided mental health information.

Comparison of the VA and NIDILRR TBI Model System Cohorts.

Objective: Within the same time frame, compare the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and VA Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS) data sets to inform future research and generalizability of findings across cohorts.

Setting: Inpatient comprehensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation facilities.

Participants: Civilians, Veterans, and active duty service members in the VA (n = 550) and NIDILRR civilian settings (n = 5270) who were enrolled in TBIMS between August 2009 and July 2015.

Predictors of Satisfaction With Life in Veterans After Traumatic Brain Injury: A VA TBI Model Systems Study.

Objective: To identify predictors of satisfaction with life in Veterans 1 year after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Setting: The VA TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) project includes 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers.

Participants: Veterans enrolled in the VA TBIMS study who completed the Satisfaction With Life Scale at year 1 follow-up.

PTSD confounds detection of compromised cerebral white matter integrity in military veterans reporting a history of mild traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: Based on high comorbidity between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among deployed military service members, this study tested the hypothesis that the presence of PTSD disrupts the association between mTBI and lower white matter integrity identified in non-military samples. Research design/Methods and procedures: In a sample of 124 recent veterans with a range of mTBI and PTSD history, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of white matter integrity in 20 regions were compared using multiple mTBI and PTSD contrasts.

Main Outcomes And Results: Civilian mTBI was associated with lower global anisotropy, higher global diffusivity and higher diffusivity in 17 of 20 regions.

Community Reintegration Problems Among Veterans and Active Duty Service Members With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objectives: To examine community reintegration problems among Veterans and military service members with mild or moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) at 1 year postinjury and to identify unique predictors that may contribute to these difficulties.

Setting: VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers.

Participants: Participants were 154 inpatients enrolled in the VA TBI Model Systems Program with available injury severity data (mild = 28.

Utility of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory As an Outcome Measure: A VA TBI Model Systems Study.

Objective: To examine the utility of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI)-a measure of postconcussion symptoms used within the Veterans Health Administration-as an index of rehabilitation outcome.

Setting: Veterans Administration Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems program.

Participants: A total of 159 Veterans (14% with mild TBI; 86% with moderate-severe TBI).

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Mindfulness-based interventions may be acceptable to veterans who have poor adherence to existing evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Objective: To compare mindfulness-based stress reduction with present-centered group therapy for treatment of PTSD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized clinical trial of 116 veterans with PTSD recruited at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center from March 2012 to December 2013.

Effects and outcomes in civilian and military traumatic brain injury: similarities, differences, and forensic implications.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a prominent public health problem in both civilian and military settings. This article discusses similarities and differences in the assessment and treatment of TBI and the attendant forensic implications. Acute care and management of moderate/severe TBI tend to be similar across environments, as is the recognition of disability status in affected individuals.

Traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: analysis of common data elements.

Physical medicine rehabilitation interventions for post-acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) are heterogeneous and subject to differences based on multi-disciplinary treatment plans [1]. There is no universal knowledge representation (KR) model for TBI rehabilitation which impedes data collection, aggregation, computation, and sharing. This paper describes results of an analysis of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) TBI "Common Data Elements" (CDE) clinical data standardization set.

Development of a traumatic brain injury model system within the Department of Veterans Affairs Polytrauma System of Care.

Background: In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers partnered with the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to establish a Model Systems program of research that would closely emulate the civilian Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems Centers Program established in 1987.

Objective: To describe the development of a TBI Model Systems program within the Department of Veterans Affairs Polytrauma System of Care.

Methods: Enrollment criteria and data collection/data quality efforts for the newly established Department of Veterans Affairs sites are reviewed.

Participation after multidisciplinary rehabilitation for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in adults: a systematic review.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in improving participation-related outcomes in adults. This article presents results of select key questions from a recent Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research comparative effectiveness review.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO; hand searches of previous relevant reviews.