Feasibility and acceptability for LION, a fully remote, randomized clinical trial within the VA for light therapy to improve sleep in Veterans with and without TBI: An MTBI2 sponsored protocol.

Sleep-wake disturbances frequently present in Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). These TBI-related sleep impairments confer significant burden and commonly exacerbate other functional impairments. Therapies to improve sleep following mTBI are limited and studies in Veterans are even more scarce.

Increased Risk for Clinically Significant Sleep Disturbances in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: An Approach to Leveraging the Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research Database.

Study Objectives: The Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) Informatics System contains individual-patient-level traumatic brain injury (TBI) data, which when combined, allows for the examination of rates and outcomes for key subpopulations at risk for developing sleep disturbance.

Methods: This proof-of-concept study creates a model system for harmonizing data (i.e.

Using harmonized FITBIR datasets to examine associations between TBI history and cognitive functioning.

Objective: Demonstrate how patient-level traumatic brain injury (TBI) data from studies in the Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) Informatics System can be harmonized and pooled to examine relationships between TBI and cognitive functioning.

Method: We harmonized and pooled data across studies and analyzed rates of probable cognitive functioning deficits by TBI history and severity.

Results: Four publicly available FITBIR studies with 3,445 participants included data on cognitive dysfunction, though only one included comparison groups (mild TBI vs.

Predictors of evidence-based psychotherapy initiation among veterans with co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorder.

Objective: To compare initiation of PTSD evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) between Veterans with and without a co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD), and identify factors associated with EBP initiation among Veterans with PTSD-SUD.

Method: A national sample of Veterans with PTSD ( = 301,872) and PTSD-SUD ( = 94,515) were identified from VA Electronic Health Record data. Treatment initiation was defined as having at least one mental health encounter associated with Cognitive Processing Therapy or Prolonged Exposure therapy.

Feasibility and acceptability for LION, a fully remote, randomized clinical trial within the VA for light therapy to improve sleep in Veterans with and without TBI: An MTBI sponsored protocol.

Sleep-wake disturbances frequently present in Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). These TBI-related sleep impairments confer significant burden and commonly exacerbate other functional impairments. Therapies to improve sleep following mTBI are limited and studies in Veterans are even more scarce.

Associations Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Severity of Tinnitus-Related Functional Impairment Among US Military Veterans: A National, Population-Based Study.

Objective: To describe associations between a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the severity of tinnitus-related functional impairment among a national, stratified random sample of veterans diagnosed with tinnitus by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system.

Setting: A multimodal (mailed and internet) survey administered in 2018. Participants: VA healthcare-using veterans diagnosed with tinnitus; veterans with comorbid TBI diagnosis were oversampled.

Randomized controlled trials of mind-body interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review.

Mind-body interventions (MBIs) include mindfulness-based interventions (MiBIs), meditation- and mantra-based interventions (MMIs), and movement-based interventions (MoBIs). These approaches have demonstrated preliminary efficacy in improving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have noted that this area of research is limited by inadequate comparator conditions, heterogeneity of measurement, and absence of objective outcome measures.

Characterizing and Comparing Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Utilization Among Veterans with Co-occurring PTSD and Substance Use Disorder.

: The current study sought to describe a nationally representative sample of Veterans diagnosed with co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorder (SUD) who initiated and completed evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) for PTSD, and explored whether completion rates differed by SUD subtype. : Using electronic health record data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Corporate Data Warehouse, Veterans with a dual diagnosis of PTSD and SUD who initiated either Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) or Prolonged Exposure (PE) between January 01, 2019 and July 16, 2019 were identified ( = 2,996). Logistic analyses were employed to determine whether there were differences in EBP completion rates among Veterans with an alcohol use disorder (AUD;  = 1,383) versus all other SUDs  = 1,613).

Neuropsychological Correlates of PTSD and Depressive Symptom Improvement in Compensatory Cognitive Training for Veterans With a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Introduction: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), depression, and PTSD are highly prevalent in post-9/11 veterans. With the comorbidity of depression and PTSD in post-9/11 veterans with mTBI histories and their role in exacerbating cognitive and emotional dysfunction, interventions addressing cognitive and psychiatric functioning are critical. Compensatory Cognitive Training (CCT) is associated with improvements in prospective memory, attention, and executive functioning and has also yielded small-to-medium treatment effects on PTSD and depressive symptom severity.

Neuropsychological Performance and Functional Capacity Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans.

Objective: To examine the relationship between neuropsychological functioning and performance-based functional capacity in veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), as well as the moderating effects of age and psychiatric symptoms on this relationship.

Setting: Three Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Participants: One hundred nineteen Iraq/Afghanistan veterans with a history of mTBI and self-reported cognitive difficulties.

Dietary Supplementation With Branched Chain Amino Acids to Improve Sleep in Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Pilot and Feasibility Trial.

Study Objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with chronic sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment. Our prior preclinical work demonstrated dietary supplementation with branched chain amino acids (BCAA: leucine, isoleucine, and valine), precursors to glutamate production, restored impairments in glutamate, orexin/hypocretin neurons, sleep, and memory in rodent models of TBI. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of dietary supplementation with BCAA on sleep and cognition in Veterans with TBI.

Mental health outcomes of adults hospitalized for COVID-19: A systematic review.

Background: Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 may be at high risk of mental health (MH) disorders. This systematic review assesses MH outcomes among adults during and after hospitalization for COVID-19 and ascertains MH care utilization and resource needs.

Methods: We searched multiple medical literature databases for studies published December 2019 to March 2021.

Demographic, military, and health comorbidity variables by mild TBI and PTSD status in the LIMBIC-CENC cohort.

Objective: To describe associations of demographic, military, and health comorbidity variables between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) history and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status in a sample of Former and current military personnel.

Setting: Participants recruited and tested at seven VA sites and one military training facility in the LIMBIC-CENC prospective longitudinal study (PLS), which examines the long-term mental health, neurologic, and cognitive outcomes among previously combat-deployed U.S.

Opioid and Sedative-Hypnotic Prescriptions Among Post-9/11 Veteran VA Users Nationwide With Traumatic Brain Injury, 2012-2020.

Objective: Many post-9/11 Veterans have received Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Pain conditions are prevalent among these patients and are often managed with opioid analgesics. Opioids may impose unique risks to Veterans with a history of TBI, especially when combined with other psychotropic medications.

Change in Learning and Memory Partially Mediates Effects of Compensatory Cognitive Training on Self-Reported Cognitive Symptoms.

Objective: To examine associations among compensatory cognitive training (CCT), objective cognitive functioning, and self-reported cognitive symptoms. We examined whether change in objective cognitive functioning associated with participation in CCT at 10-week follow-up mediates change in self-reported cognitive symptoms associated with CCT at 15-week follow-up.

Setting: Three VA outpatient mental health clinics.

Mental Health Symptoms Among Veteran VA Users by Tinnitus Severity:A Population-based Survey.

Introduction: Tinnitus is prevalent among Service members and Veterans and is often comorbid with mental health disorders. Associations between the severity of individuals' tinnitus and mental health symptoms are not well described.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a population-based survey of a stratified random sample of 1,800 Veterans diagnosed with tinnitus.