The Association of Lifetime and Deployment-Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury With Postdeployment Binge and Heavy Drinking.
Rachel Sayko Adams, Laura Campbell-Sills, Murray B Stein and 6 others
PMID 31365436WHAT IT FOUND
Lifetime TBI with loss of consciousness before deployment was linked to higher odds of binge and heavy drinking at 3 months post-deployment.
Deployment-acquired TBI alone was not associated with these outcomes in the main models, though a subset analysis suggested increased heavy drinking risk for those with both types of injury.
Key findings
01Pre-deployment lifetime TBI with loss of consciousness was associated with increased odds of both binge and heavy drinking at 3 months post-deployment.
02Deployment-acquired TBI was not significantly associated with binge or heavy drinking outcomes at either 3-month or 9-month post-deployment assessments in the main multivariable models.
03Among soldiers who already had a lifetime TBI, those who also sustained a deployment-acquired TBI had significantly increased odds of heavy drinking at 9 months post-deployment compared to those with only a lifetime TBI.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
TBI status was determined by retrospective self-report rather than clinically confirmed diagnosis. Alcohol use outcomes were also self-reported and may be subject to recall or social desirability bias. The study did not determine the cause of lifetime TBIs, so it is unclear how many occurred during previous military service versus civilian life. Results may not generalize to female soldiers, other military branches, or civilian populations. Attrition bias is possible if soldiers who separated early or could not complete follow-ups differed from those who remained.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors declare no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that deployment-acquired TBI independently causes post-deployment alcohol misuse. The main analysis found no significant association between DA-TBI and drinking outcomes when controlling for pre-deployment factors. The increased risk for heavy drinking at 9 months was only observed in a subset of soldiers who already had a lifetime TBI before deploying.