Prevalence and Screening of Traumatic Brain Injury Among Veterans Seeking Mental Health Services

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among Veterans seeking mental health services using a 4-item tool, the Traumatic Brain Injury-4 (TBI-4), and to establish the classification accuracy of the TBI-4 using the Ohio State University TBI-Identification Method as the criterion standard. Study Design: Archival and observational data collected from individuals seeking care at a Mountain State VA Medical Center. Participants: The sample for the archival study was 1810. Three hundred sixteen Veterans completed observational study measures. Main Measures: For the archival study, TBI-4 and demographic data extracted from electronic medical records. For the observational study, the Ohio State University TBI-Identification Method and a demographic questionnaire were used. TBI-4 data were also obtained from electronic medical records. Results: The prevalence of probable TBI among those seeking VA MH treatment was 45%. Sensitivity and specificity of the TBI-4 were 0.74 and 0.56, respectively. Veterans with all levels of TBI severity sought care within this VA mental health setting. Conclusions: The prevalence of TBI in this VA mental health treatment population was higher than expected. Additional research is required to assess the clinical utility of screening for TBI among this population of Veterans.