A history of psychiatric illness such as depression or anxiety before a traumatic brain injury (TBI), together with other risk factors, are strongly predictive of post-TBI psychiatric disorders, according to an article published inJournal of Neurotrauma. In addition to a pre-injury psychiatric disorder, two other factors are early indicators of an increased risk for psychiatric illness one year after a TBI: psychiatric symptoms during the acute post-injury period, and a concurrent limb injury.
In the presence of a limb injury, patients who suffered a TBI had a 6.4 greater risk of psychiatric disorders at 1 year, and a 4-fold greater risk of depression in particular, compared to patients without a limb injury. The authors report their findings in the article, “Predictive and Associated Factors of Psychiatric Disorders after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Prospective Study.” Standardized data collection and review of pre-injury education, psychiatric history, and injury mechanism during initial hospital presentation can aid in identifying patients with mTBI at risk for developing PTSD symptoms who may benefit from closer follow-up after initial injury care.
Read entire study at: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/neu.2015.4158