Association of Traumatic Brain Injury With Vestibular Dysfunction and Dizziness in Post-9/11 Veterans.
Alicia A Swan, Jeremy T Nelson, Terri K Pogoda and 6 others
PMID 31569144WHAT IT FOUND
Post-9/11 veterans with traumatic brain injury were more likely to have dizziness or vestibular dysfunction diagnoses.
Nonspecific dizziness was more common than vestibular dysfunction. Veterans with these diagnoses reported broader symptom disruption, not only balance problems.
Key findings
01After grouping overlapping diagnoses, 0.45% were categorized as having vestibular dysfunction and 2.37% as having nonspecific dizziness.
02Any evidence of TBI was more common among veterans with vestibular dysfunction (50.16%) or nonspecific dizziness (58.43%) than among veterans with neither diagnosis (28.51%).
03Veterans with vestibular dysfunction or nonspecific dizziness reported greater disruption across somatosensory, affective, cognitive, and vestibular symptom factors, even when clinician-reported mental health symptoms were considered.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The diagnosis rules required repeated coded visits, so true prevalence may be underestimated. Vestibular dysfunction and dizziness may have been overlooked because other health concerns were more pressing. Preexisting diagnoses were not removed, so some dizziness may have existed before TBI. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show TBI caused vestibular dysfunction or dizziness. The comprehensive evaluation subsample was biased toward veterans with deployment injury exposure or TBI. The sample included only veterans who seek regular VA care, so it may not generalize to all veterans or civilians.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that traumatic brain injury caused vestibular dysfunction or dizziness. This study used existing records and cross-sectional data, so it shows association, not cause.