Disparities in mental health symptoms recovery across race/ethnicity and education level following mild traumatic brain injury.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between race/ethnicity and post-concussive mental health (i.e., depressive, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and neurobehavioral symptoms among service members, and whether this association differed by education level.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 524 patients from a multidisciplinary US military outpatient treatment facility for post-concussive symptoms. Poisson regression with robust error variance was utilized to investigate outcome (i.e., clinically-elevated depressive [Patient Health Questionnaire-8 ≥15], PTSD [PTSD Checklist, DSM 5 ≥38] and neurobehavioral [Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory >75th percentile] symptoms at admission and last follow-up in this cohort study. Modification by education level (low [no college degree] vs. high [associate's degree or higher]) was additionally evaluated.

Results: The relationship between race/ethnicity and mental health/neurobehavioral symptoms varied by education level (p-interaction: depressive symptoms = 0.002, PTSD symptoms = 0.035, neurobehavioral symptoms = 0.040). Specifically, non-Whites were at a significantly higher prevalence for clinically-elevated depressive symptoms post-treatment than Whites, but only among those with higher education level (PR = 2.22, CI = 1.37-3.59). A similar trend was demonstrated for PTSD and neurobehavioral symptoms.

Conclusion: Military healthcare may need to increase depression-focused treatment options that are acceptable for racial/ethnic minority patients, particularly those with higher education, while they are recovering from comorbid traumatic brain injury.