Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms

Differing clinical characteristics among individuals with concussions sustained at work, in motor vehicle collisions, and sport

PURPOSE

To compare clinical characteristics in patients with concussions sustained by prevalent, but understudied, mechanisms (work-related concussion [WRC] and motor vehicle collision [MVC]-related concussion) to sport-related concussion (SRC).

METHODS

Retrospective review of 281 electronic medical records from an outpatient concussion clinic. Time since injury (days), duration of care (days), amount of care (number of visits), and perceived health (Short-Form 12) were collected.

RESULTS

The time between injury and clinic presentation was significantly greater in WRC and MVC-related concussion compared to SRC. These groups were also older, had a longer duration of care, required more referrals for outside clinical services, and reported worse perceived mental and physical health versus SRC.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that clinical courses may be significantly different for individuals with SRC, WRC and MVC-related concussion, and that different management approaches and expectations may be necessary for these groups. Further research is indicated.

Does Variation in Hospital Density and Social Deprivation Across Small Geographic Areas Play a Role in Perceived Barriers to Care Among People With Traumatic Brain Injury?

OBJECTIVE

To examine the role of area-level variables (hospital density and social deprivation) in the experience of health care access and quality among individuals with traumatic brain injury.

SETTING

Online questionnaire of community dwelling individuals Participants: 300 individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional observational survey.

MAIN MEASURES

Barriers to Care Questionnaire, Social Deprivation Index, Hospital Density.

RESULTS

In an unadjusted regression model, less social deprivation and higher hospital density were associated with better perceived health care access and quality. After adjusting for personal factors of race, ethnicity, age, injury severity, food insecurity, and housing insecurity, the effect of social deprivation was fully attenuated whereas the effect of hospital density on health care access and quality remained significant. A model containing only the personal factors demonstrated reduced health care access and quality among individuals identifying as Hispanic. However, this effect was non-significant with the inclusion of the area-level contextual factors in a fully adjusted model.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher area-level hospital density is associated with a reduction in perceived barriers to care among individuals with TBI. In addition, contextual, area-level data accounted for the reduced health care access and quality among Hispanic participants. Area-level data can provide explanatory value in the study of health disparities for people with TBI from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Relationships Between Neighborhood Disadvantage, Race/Ethnicity, and Neurobehavioral Symptoms Among Veterans With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and severity of vestibular, sensory, mood-behavioral, and cognitive neurobehavioral symptoms among Veterans with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI); and whether Veterans in underrepresented racial/ethnic groups with high neighborhood disadvantage experience the most severe symptoms.

SETTING

Outpatient Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

PARTICIPANTS

Veterans with the following data available in the electronic health record (2014-2020): (1) clinician-confirmed mTBI and complete neurobehavioral symptom inventory (NSI) as part of their comprehensive traumatic brain injury evaluation (CTBIE) and (2) area deprivation index (ADI) scores assessing neighborhood disadvantage from the same quarter as their CTBIE.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study. Latent variable regression was used to examine unique and interactive relationships between neighborhood disadvantage, race/ethnicity, and neurobehavioral symptoms.

MAIN MEASURES

NSI and ADI national percentile rank.

RESULTS

The study included 58 698 eligible Veterans. Relative to Veterans in the first quintile of ADI national percentile rank, representing those with the least neighborhood disadvantage, Veterans in the ADI quintiles indicating greater neighborhood disadvantage reported more severe vestibular, sensory, mood-behavioral, and cognitive symptoms. The strongest associations between neighborhood disadvantage and neurobehavioral symptoms were observed within the sensory ( β = 0.07-0.16) and mood-behavioral domains ( β = 0.06-0.15). Statistical interactions indicated that the association between underrepresented racial/ethnic group status (vs. identifying as white, non-Hispanic) and the severity of neurobehavioral symptoms did not differ among those with severe neighborhood disadvantage versus those without.

CONCLUSION

Veterans with mTBI living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more severe neurobehavioral symptoms relative to those in the most advantaged neighborhoods, with the strongest relationships detected within the sensory and mood-behavioral domains. While neighborhood disadvantage and underrepresented race/ethnicity were both independently associated with symptoms, these factors did not interact to produce more severe symptoms. Findings suggest that addressing factors driving socioeconomic disadvantage may assist in mitigating symptoms in this population.

The TBI Model Systems Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage Index (TBIMS-NSDI): Development and Comparison to Individual Socioeconomic Characteristics

OBJECTIVE

To create a census-based composite neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation index (NSDI) from geocoded residential addresses and to quantify how NSDI aligns with individual-level socioeconomic factors among people with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

SETTING

Community.

PARTICIPANTS

People enrolled in the TBI Model Systems National Database (TBIMS NDB).

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of a longitudinal cohort study.

MAIN MEASURES

The TBIMS-NSDI was calculated at the census tract level for the United States population based on a principal components analysis of eight census tract-level variables from the American Community Survey. Individual socioeconomic characteristics from the TBIMS NDB were personal household income, education (years), and unemployment status. Neighborhood:Individual NSDI residuals represent the difference between predicted neighborhood disadvantage based on individual socioeconomic characteristics versus observed neighborhood disadvantage based on the TBIMS-NSDI .

RESULTS

A single principal component was found to encompass the eight socioeconomic neighborhood-level variables. It was normally distributed across follow-up years 2, 5, and 10 post-injury in the TBIMS NDB. In all years, the TBIMS-NDSI was significantly associated with individual-level measures of household income and education but not unemployment status. Males, persons of Black and Hispanic background, Medicaid recipients, persons with TBI caused by violence, and those living in urban areas, as well as in the Northeast or Southern regions of the United States, were more likely to have greater neighborhood disadvantage than predicted based on their individual socioeconomic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

The TBIMS-NSDI provides a neighborhood-level indicator of socioeconomic disadvantage, an important social determinant of outcomes from TBI. The Neighborhood:Individual NSDI residual adds another dimension to the TBIMS-NSDI by summarizing how a person's socioeconomic status aligns with their neighborhood socioeconomics. Future studies should evaluate how both measures affect TBI recovery and life quality. Research studying neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage may improve our understanding of how systemic adversity influences outcomes after TBI.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Risk of Incident Comorbidities

Importance

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with chronic medical conditions. Evidence from diverse clinical administrative datasets may improve care delivery.

Objective

To characterize post-TBI risk of incident neuropsychiatric and medical conditions in a California health care system administrative database and validate findings from a Massachusetts dataset.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this cohort study, prospective longitudinal cohorts using data from 5 University of California health care settings between 2013 and 2022 were studied. Patients aged 18 years and older with mild (mTBI) or moderate to severe TBI (msTBI) were included. Unexposed individuals were propensity matched by age, race and ethnicity, sex, University of California site, insurance coverage, area deprivation index (ADI) score, and duration from index date to most recent clinical encounter. Patients with study comorbidities of interest before the index date were excluded. Data were analyzed August to October 2024.

Exposure

TBI.

Main Outcomes and Measures

International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) and International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes were used to identify patients with TBI and patients with up to 22 comorbidities within neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, and endocrine umbrella groupings. Cox proportional hazard models were used to generate yearly hazard ratios (HRs) from 6 months up to 10 years after a TBI. Models were further stratified by age and ADI score.

Results

The study consisted of 20 400 patients (9264 female [45.4%]; 1576 Black [7.7%], 3944 Latinx [19.3%], and 10 480 White [51.4%]), including 5100 patients with mTBI (median [IQR] age, 36.0 [25.0-51.0] years), 5100 patients with msTBI (median [IQR age, 35.0 [25.0-52.0] years), and 10 200 matched patients in the control group (median [IQR] age, 36.0 [25.0-51.0] years). By ADI score quintile, there were 2757 unexposed patients (27.0%), 1561 patients with mTBI (30.6%), and 1550 patients with msTBI (30.4%) in the lowest (1-2) quintiles and 1523 unexposed patients (14.9%), 769 patients with mTBI (15.1%), and 804 patients with msTBI (15.8%) in the highest quintiles (9-10). TBI of any severity was associated with increased risk of nearly all conditions (mTBI HRs ranged from 1.30; 95% CI, 1.07-1.57 for hypothyroidism to 4.06; 95% CI, 3.06-5.39 for dementia, and msTBI HRs ranged from 1.35; 95% CI, 1.12-1.62 for hypothyroidism to 3.45; 95% CI, 2.73-4.35 for seizure disorder). Separate age and ADI stratifications revealed patient populations at increased risk, including middle-age adults (ages 41-60 years), with increased risk of suicidality (mTBI: HR, 4.84; 95% CI, 3.01-7.78; msTBI: HR, 4.08; 95% CI, 2.51-6.62). Suicidality risk persisted for patients with mTBI in the high ADI subgroup (HR, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.36-3.66).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study, TBI was a risk factor associated with treatable incident neuropsychiatric and other medical conditions, validating similar findings from a Massachusetts dataset. Additional exploratory findings suggested varying demographic and regional risk patterns, which may generate causal hypotheses for further research and inform clinical surveillance strategies.

Prior Concussion History and Clinical Recovery Following Sport-Related Concussion in College Athletes

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess whether a history of prior concussions, and especially multiple prior concussions, is associated with clinical recovery following a subsequent sport-related concussion among collegiate student athletes.

DESIGN

A naturalistic observational cohort study.

SETTING

Eleven National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III colleges.

PARTICIPANTS

Collegiate athletes sustaining concussions from September 2014 through March 2020.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Participants were divided into 3 groups, athletes with: (1) no prior concussion history, (2) one prior concussion, and (3) 2 or more prior concussions.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Survival analyses were used to compare time to return to school and sports among athletes with a history of 0, 1, or ≥2 prior concussions.

RESULTS

Among the 1132 college athletes, there were no statistically significant group differences between those with 0, 1, or ≥2 prior concussions in total time to return to school or sports. There was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of athletes with ≥2 prior concussions that had not fully returned to school, without accommodations, at 28 days (6.0%) compared to athletes with no prior concussions (2.2%; odds ratio = 2.80, 95% confidence interval 1.29-6.04).

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, concussion history was not associated with time to return to sports following a subsequent sport-related concussion in these college athletes. On average, athletes with prior concussions did not take longer to return to school, although a slightly greater proportion of college athletes with ≥2 prior concussions had not fully returned to school, without accommodations, by 28 days following injury.

Socioeconomic Disparities in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Transfer Patterns: An Analysis of Area Deprivation Index and Clinical Outcomes

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) poses a significant health burden, particularly among pediatric populations, leading to long-term cognitive, physical, and psychosocial impairments. Timely transfer to specialized trauma centers is crucial for optimal management, yet the influence of socioeconomic factors, such as the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), on transfer patterns remains understudied.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted on pediatric TBI patients presenting to a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center between January 2012 and July 2023. Transfer status, distance, mode of transport, and clinical outcomes were analyzed in relation to ADI. Statistical analyses were performed using Student t-test and analysis of variance.

RESULTS

Of 359 patients, 53.5% were transferred from outside hospitals, with higher ADI scores observed in transfer patients (P<0.01). Air transport was associated with greater distances traveled and higher ADI compared to ground ambulance (P<0.01). Despite similarities in injury severity, intensive care unit admission rates differed between transfer modes, with no significant impact on mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

High ADI patients were more likely to be transferred, suggesting disparities in access to specialized care. Differences in transfer modes highlight the influence of socioeconomic factors on logistical aspects. While transfer did not independently impact outcomes, disparities in intensive care unit admission rates were observed, possibly influenced by injury severity. Integrating socioeconomic data into clinical decision-making processes can inform targeted interventions to optimize care delivery and improve outcomes for all pediatric TBI patients. Prospective, multicenter studies are warranted to further elucidate these relationships.

Identifying and Predicting Subgroups of Veterans With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Based on Distinct Configurations of Postconcussive Symptom Endorsement: A Latent Class Analysis

OBJECTIVE

To identify distinct subgroups of veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) based on configurations of postconcussive symptom (PCS) endorsement, and to examine predictors of subgroup membership.

SETTING

Outpatient Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

PARTICIPANTS

Veterans with clinician-confirmed mTBI who completed the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), determined using the Comprehensive Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation database. Individuals who tended to overreport symptoms were excluded via an embedded symptom validity scale.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study leveraging national VHA clinical data from 2012 to 2020. Latent class analysis (LCA) with a split-sample cross-validation procedure was used to identify subgroups of veterans. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine predictors of subgroup membership.

MAIN MEASURES

Latent classes identified using NSI items.

RESULTS

The study included 72 252 eligible veterans, who were primarily White (73%) and male (94%). The LCA supported 7 distinct subgroups of veterans with mTBI, characterized by diverging patterns of risk for specific PCS across vestibular (eg, dizziness), somatosensory (eg, headache), cognitive (eg, forgetfulness), and mood domains (eg, anxiety). The most prevalent subgroup was Global (20.7%), followed by Cognitive-Mood (16.3%), Headache-Cognitive-Mood (H-C-M; 16.3%), Headache-Mood (14.2%), Anxiety (13.8%), Headache-Sleep (10.3%), and Minimal (8.5%). The Global class was used as the reference class for multinomial logistic regression because it was distinguished from others based on elevated risk for PCS across all domains. Female (vs male), Black (vs White), and Hispanic veterans (vs non-Hispanic) were less likely to be members of most subgroups characterized by lesser PCS endorsement relative to the Global class (excluding Headache-Mood).

CONCLUSION

The 7 distinct groups identified in this study distill heterogenous patterns of PCS endorsement into clinically actionable phenotypes that can be used to tailor clinical management of veterans with mTBI. Findings reveal empirical support for potential racial, ethnic, and sex-based disparities in PCS among veterans, informing efforts aimed at promoting equitable recovery from mTBI in this population.

Social vulnerability and traumatic brain injury hospitalizations from sports and recreation among pediatric patients in the United States

PURPOSE

This study examined the associations between individual as well as neighborhood social vulnerability and sports and recreation-related traumatic brain injury (SR-TBI) hospitalizations among pediatric patients in the U.S.

METHODS

We obtained 2009, 2010 and 2011 hospitalization data in the U.S. from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, linked it to 2010 neighborhood social vulnerability index (SVI) data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), and assigned U.S. hospitals to one of four SVI quartiles. SR-TBI outcomes studied include: odds of hospitalization, length of stay (LOS), and discharge to post-acute care (DTPAC).

RESULTS

We found associations between race/ethnicity and all SR-TBI outcomes; however, sex, primary payer, and neighborhood overall SVI were only associated with LOS. Compared to White children, Native American children had almost three times higher odds of hospitalization for SR-TBI (OR: 2.82, 95% CI: 1.30, 6.14), 27% longer LOS (β: 27.06, 95% CI: 16.56, 38.51), but 99.9% lower odds of DTPAC (OR: 0.001, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.01). Compared to children with private insurance, children with public insurance had 11% longer LOS (β: 10.83, 95% CI: 8.65, 13.05). Hospitalization in neighborhood with higher overall SVI was associated with longer LOS (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that individual and neighborhood social vulnerability can have a significant impact on the health outcomes of children, especially in the context of SR-TBI.

Functional Recovery, Symptoms, and Quality of Life 1 to 5 Years After Traumatic Brain Injury

Importance

Many level I trauma center patients experience clinical sequelae at 1 year following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Longer-term outcome data are needed to develop better monitoring and rehabilitation services.

Objective

To examine functional recovery, TBI-related symptoms, and quality of life from 1 to 5 years postinjury.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study enrolled trauma patients across 18 US level I trauma centers between 2014 and 2018. Eligible participants were enrolled within 24 hours of injury and followed up to 5 years postinjury. Data were analyzed January 2023.

Exposures

Mild TBI (mTBI), moderate-severe TBI (msTBI), or orthopedic traumatic controls (OTC).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Functional independence (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended [GOSE] score 5 or higher), complete functional recovery (GOSE score, 8), better (ie, lower) TBI-related symptom burden (Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire score of 15 or lower), and better (ie, higher) health-related quality of life (Quality of Life After Brain Injury Scale-Overall Scale score 52 or higher); mortality was analyzed as a secondary outcome.

Results

A total 1196 patients were included in analysis (mean [SD] age, 40.8 [16.9] years; 781 [65%] male; 158 [13%] Black, 965 [81%] White). mTBI and OTC groups demonstrated stable, high rates of functional independence (98% to 100% across time). While odds of independence were lower among msTBI survivors, the majority were independent at 1 year (72%), and this proportion increased over time (80% at 5 years; group × year, P = .005; independence per year: odds ratio [OR] for msTBI, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.03-1.58; OR for mTBI, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.64-1.03). For other outcomes, group differences at 1 year remained stable over time (group × year, P ≥ .44). Odds of complete functional recovery remained lower for persons with mTBI vs OTC (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.28-0.56) and lower for msTBI vs mTBI (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.24-0.48). Odds of better TBI-related symptom burden and quality of life were similar for both TBI subgroups and lower than OTCs. Mortality between 1 and 5 years was higher for msTBI (5.5%) than mTBI (1.5%) and OTC (0.7%; P = .02).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study, patients with previous msTBI displayed increased independence over 5 years; msTBI was also associated with increased mortality. These findings, in combination with the persistently elevated rates of unfavorable outcomes in mTBI vs controls imply that more monitoring and rehabilitation are needed for TBI.