Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury in Deployment and Nondeployment Settings Among Members of the Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: To describe and quantify the prevalence and risk of deployment and nondeployment service-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) among participants of the Millennium Cohort Study. Setting: Survey data. Participants: 28 759 Millennium Cohort Study participants who were active duty, Reserves, or National Guard at the time of the survey. Design: Cross-sectional secondary data analysis. Main Measures: Estimates of prevalence and rates of TBI were calculated. Multivariable Poisson regression estimated rate ratios of TBI overall and stratified by deployment and nondeployment settings. Results: The rate of TBI over the 362 535 person-years (PY) was 2.95 p/100 PY. the nondeployment rate was 2.15 p/100 PY, with a significantly higher rate (11.38 p/100 PY) in deployment settings. Bullets/blasts were the most common TBI mechanisms in deployed settings, while sports/physical training and military training were common in nondeployed settings. Conclusions: The risk of TBI as well as its mechanism varies by deployment and nondeployment, suggesting that targeted prevention strategies are needed to reduce the risk for TBI among military personnel based on their deployment status.