Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms.

This was a single level I trauma center in southeastern Wisconsin, so the findings may not apply to other regions or health systems. Of 199 recruited participants, 28 had no outcome data and were excluded, and the number with symptom scores changed across visits (n = 109, 133, 103, and 82). The study excluded prisoners, pregnant people, people not fluent in English, and people with serious psychiatric or neurologic histories, so the sample was less diverse than some mild TBI populations. The ADI combines many neighborhood factors, so the study cannot say which resources, stressors, or access problems were responsible for the symptom difference. This was an observational study, so it cannot show that neighborhood disadvantage caused worse symptoms or that changing the ADI would improve outcomes.

The supplied metadata lists NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The article text provided does not include an author conflicts of interest declaration.

Do not conclude that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood causes worse mild TBI symptoms. This study only found an association with reported symptoms. It did not test any intervention, and the ADI is a composite that does not identify which neighborhood factors caused the difference.