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Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium

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The Military Injuries: Understanding Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Study: Understanding Relationships among Lifetime Traumatic Brain Injury History, Epilepsy, and Quality of Life

Pugh MJ, Kennedy E, Gugger JJ, Mayo J, Tate D, Swan A, Kean J, Altalib H, Gowda S, Towne A, Hinds S, Van Cott A, Lopez MR, Jaramillo CA, Eapen BC, McCafferty RR, Salinsky M, Cramer J, McMillan KK, Kalvesmaki A, Diaz-Arrastia R; MINUTE Study Group. The Military Injuries: Understanding Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Study: Understanding Relationships among Lifetime Traumatic Brain Injury History, Epilepsy, and Quality of Life. J Neurotrauma. 2021 Oct 15;38(20):2841-2850. doi: 10.1089/neu.2021.0015. PMID: 34353118; PMCID: PMC8820288.

Main Question

Do post-9/11 Veterans with TBI and epilepsy have different outcomes from Veterans without TBI and epilepsy?

Study Findings

The MINUTE (Military INjuries-Understanding post-Traumatic Epilepsy) study revealed high rates of undocumented lifetime TBIs among Veterans with epilepsy who had no evidence of TBI in VA medical records. Persons with epilepsy + TBI had worse physical functioning and health-related quality of life compared to those with either epilepsy or TBI alone. TBI severity did not fully explain differences in functioning and QOL.

Practical Uses

Veterans with epilepsy may have an undocumented history of TBI that impacts function, prognosis and treatment needs. Screening for history of TBI may help inform treatment planning for health services and community supports for veterans with epilepsy and/or complex comorbidity.

For more information on assessing and managing neuroendocrine conditions

In an effort to provide the latest findings to our consumers as quickly as possible, some of these studies, while fully peer reviewed, have not been presented or published either electronically or in print. Findings are presented for informational purposes only and should not be cited or referenced until they are formally published or presented.

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The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 839 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs endorsed by the Department of Defense, through the Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC) Award/W81XWH-18-PH/TBIRP-LIMBIC under Awards No. W81XWH1920067 and W81XWH-13-2-0095, and by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Awards No. I01 CX002097, I01 CX002096, I01 HX003155, I01 RX003444, I01 RX003443, I01 RX003442, I01 CX001135, I01 CX001246, I01 RX001774, I01 RX 001135, I01 RX 002076, I01 RX 001880, I01 RX 002172, I01 RX 002173, I01 RX 002171, I01 RX 002174, and I01 RX 002170. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. / Created by VCU University Relations

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