Table 1.
Demographic and injury characteristics of post-9/11 Veterans with mTBI by comorbidity phenotype.
| Variable | Category | Moderately Healthy (MoH)(n=20,837) | Moderately Healthy + Decline (n=14,267) | Polytrauma Phenotype (n=9,288) | Polytrauma + Improvement (n=13,751) | Mental Health (n=14,753) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | ||
| Age at CTBIE | 19–29 | 45.4 (9455) | 47.9 (6830) | 49.4 (4591) | 60.8 (8360) | 65.6 (9674) |
| 30–39 | 30.9 (6436) | 30.5 (4350) | 30.3 (2810) | 23.7 (3258) | 24.6 (3630) | |
| 40–49 | 17.8 (3701) | 17.6 (2514) | 17.0 (1579) | 12.8 (1766) | 8.1 (1199) | |
| 50–59 | 5.4 (1120) | 3.6 (511) | 3.2 (297) | 2.4 (323) | 1.6 (236) | |
| 60–69 | 0.6 (125) | 0.5 (64) | 0.1 (11) | 0.3 (44) | 0.1 (14) | |
| Sex | Male | 93.9 (19573) | 93.7 (13365) | 93.0 (8640) | 95.7 (13154) | 95.8 (14135) |
| Female | 6.1 (1,264) | 6.3 (902) | 7.0 (648) | 4.3 (597) | 4.2 (618) | |
| Educational attainment | Less than high school | 1.4 (297) | 1.4 (201) | 1.5 (137) | 1.5 (202) | 1.7 (243) |
| High school or equivalent | 55.3 (11519) | 57.67 (8217) | 57.5 (5348) | 60.2 (8273) | 63.6 (9380) | |
| Some college | 34.4 (7174) | 34.0 (4857) | 34.5 (3205) | 32.2 (4434) | 30.5 (4495) | |
| College graduate or higher | 7.9 (1646) | 5.9 (837) | 5.4 (502) | 5.3 (725) | 3.5 (514) | |
| Unknown | 1.0 (201) | 1.1 (157) | 1.0 (96) | 0.9 (117) | 0.8 (121) | |
| Marital status | Married | 50.6 (10541) | 55.0 (7845) | 53.9 (5008) | 50.8 (6983) | 39.0 (5747) |
| Not married | 49.4 (10296) | 45.0 (6422) | 46.1 (4280) | 49.2 (6768) | 61.0 (9006) | |
| Unknown | 0.6 (134) | 0.8 (118) | 0.6 (59) | 0.5 (69) | 0.5 (80) | |
| Race/ ethnicity | White | 67.3 (14017) | 67.8 (9573) | 68.8 (6392) | 71.1 (9770) | 71.5 (10542) |
| Black | 14.3 (2979) | 14.1 (2013) | 13.3 (1231) | 11.7 (1613) | 12.9 (1897) | |
| Asian | 2.3 (480) | 2.1 (306) | 2.0 (188) | 2.5 (343) | 1.7 (246) | |
| Native American/ Pacific Islander | 1.6 (336) | 1.8 (261) | 2.0 (183) | 1.7 (239) | 1.9 (280) | |
| Hispanic | 13.6 (2823) | 13.4 (1917) | 13.5 (1257) | 12.2 (1679) | 11.6 (1709) | |
| Unknown | 1.0 (202) | 0.7 (99) | 0.4 (36) | 0.8 (107) | 0.5 (79) | |
| Service branch | Air Force | 3.7 (775) | 3.3 (472) | 3.8 (348) | 3.3 (456) | 2.2 (330) |
| Army | 72.9 (15184) | 75.1 (10712) | 75.5 (7015) | 69.2 (9515) | 72.2 (10652) | |
| Coast Guard or Navy | 6.1 (1270) | 5.6 (799) | 5.4 (504) | 5.3 (724) | 4.5 (661) | |
| Marine Corps | 17.3 (3608) | 16.0 (2286) | 15.3 (1421) | 22.2 (3056) | 21.1 (3110) | |
| Component | Active duty | 56.1 (11694) | 67.1 (9572) | 69.9 (6489) | 71.2 (9787) | 73.6 (10854) |
| National Guard or Reserve | 43.9 (9143) | 32.9 (4695) | 30.1 (2799) | 28.8 (3964) | 26.4 (3899) | |
| Rank | Enlisted | 95.3 (19860) | 96.5 (13774) | 97.4 (9046) | 97.0 (13343) | 98.4 (14515) |
| Warrant or officer | 4.7 () | 3.5 (493) | 2.6 (242) | 3.0 (408) | 1.6 (238) | |
| Injury mechanism | Blast only | 38.8 (8076) | 38.7 (5521) | 36.9 (3427) | 39.5 (5434) | 42.5 (6270) |
| Non-blast only | 24.9 (5188) | 20.4 (2916) | 18.2 (1686) | 18.2 (2503) | 16.6 (2444) | |
| Both blast and non-blast | 33.9 (7054) | 38.6 (5513) | 43.2 (4012) | 40.9 (5618) | 39.2 (5777) | |
| Neither | 1.2 (256) | 1.0 (146) | 1.2 (112) | 1.0 (137) | 1.0 (144) | |
| Missing | 1.3 (263) | 1.2 (173) | 0.6 (51) | 0.4 (59) | 0.8 (118) | |
| Other TBI experiences | TBI before deployment only | 18.7 (3904) | 15.7 (2233) | 15.7 (1456) | 18.1 (2484) | 16.5 (2431) |
| TBI after deployment only | 4.2 (873) | 5.2 (741) | 5.6 (519) | 4.0 (556) | 5.5 (815) | |
| TBI both before and after deployment | 2.6 (540) | 3.2 (462) | 3.5 (322) | 2.6 (359) | 3.5 (513) | |
| No TBI history | 67.8 (14130) | 69.0 (9842) | 68.1 (6322) | 69.1 (9504) | 67.8 (10007) | |
| Missing | 6.7 (1390) | 6.9 (989) | 7.2 (669) | 6.2 (848) | 6.7 (987) |
Post-9/11 Veterans include those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn; the conflicts that occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan beginning in 2001.
mTBI: Mild traumatic brain injury
CTBIE: Comprehensive Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation; the examination conducted by the VA that includes the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory