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Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms seen in military patients with concussions
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Military personnel who receive concussions from blast or blunt trauma may also show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to University of Pittsburgh researchers.
In a large-scale study of 27,169 participants from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, 12% of personnel with concussions from blunt trauma and 23% from blast trauma also reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms from a combination of blast and blunt trauma consisted of 31% of cases, according to a press release.
Successive concussions also increased the risk for PTSD symptoms, researchers noted. A single blast concussion carried a 22% risk, while a second and third concussion increased the risk to 29% and 34%, respectively.
“The findings regarding the clinical PTSD-symptom levels highlight the importance for military medical personnel to screen for and treat PTSD as well as concussion in personnel exposed to concussions, particularly those exposed to multiple-blast traumas,” Anthony Kontos, PhD, assistant research director for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, stated in a press release.
He added, “The dose-response relationship between the number of blast concussions and residual concussion and PTSD symptoms supports the notion that exposure to blast head trauma has lingering effects.”
Reference:
Kontos A. Residual effects of combat-related mTBI. Presented at the Military Health System Research Symposium. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Aug. 13-16, 2012.
Disclosure: The study was funded by the U.S. Special Operations Command Biomedical Initiatives Steering Committee.
