Health and cognition among adults with and without Traumatic Brain Injury: A matched case-control study

• Published in: Brain injury Vol. 36; no. 3; p. 415
• Main Authors: Kumar, Raj G, Ketchum, Jessica M, Hammond, Flora M, Novack, Thomas A, O'Neil-Pirozzi, Therese M, Silva, Marc A, Dams-O'Connor, Kristen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 23.02.2022
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - complications; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - epidemiology; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - psychology; Case-Control Studies; Cognition; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Humans; Self Report; United States - epidemiology; United States; traumatic; health; disease; cognition; Brain injuries
• ISSN: 1362-301X
• DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2022.2034190

To evaluate associations between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and presence of health conditions, and to compare associations of health and cognition between TBI cases and controls. This matched case-control study used data from the TBI Model Systems National Database (TBI cases) and Midlife in the United States II and Refresher studies (controls).  248 TBI cases were age-, sex-, race-, and education-matched without replacement to three controls. Cases and controls were compared on prevalence of 18 self-reported conditions, self-rated health, composite scores from the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone. The following conditions were significantly more prevalent among TBI cases versus controls: anxiety/depression (OR = 3.12, 95% CI: 2.20, 4.43, < .001), chronic sleeping problems (OR = 2.76, 95% CI: 1.86, 4.10, < .001), headache/migraine (OR = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.50, 4.54, = .0007), and stroke (OR = 6.42, 95% CI: 2.93, 14.10, < .001). The relationship between self-rated health and cognition significantly varied by TBI (  = 0.002). Individuals with TBI have greater odds of selected neurobehavioral conditions compared to their demographically similar uninjured peers. Among persons with TBI there was a stronger association between poorer self-rated health and cognition than controls. TBI is increasingly conceptualized as a chronic disease; current findings suggest post-TBI health management requires cognitive supports.