title: Alcohol abuse disorders among U.S. service members with mild traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has emerged as a preeminent injury in Iraq and Afghanistan. The relationship between TBI and post-injury alcohol use in military personnel has not been clearly defined. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of alcohol abuse disorders among combat-injured service members with mild TBI (MTBI). Male U.S. service members with combat injuries were identified from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database (n = 3,123). Diagnoses of alcohol abuse disorders were collected from the standard inpatient and ambulatory data records. Overall, a slightly higher proportion of service members with MTBI were diagnosed with an alcohol abuse disorder compared to those with other injury (6.1% vs. 4.9%). In a multivariate analysis, however, it was found that MTBI was not associated with higher levels of alcohol abuse (odds ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.90, 1.70). To better define the consequences of MTBI, future research should include other alcohol dependency measures along with comorbid mental health disorders.
authors.affiliation: Naval Health Research Center, 140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA 92106, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Heltemes
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: MacGregor
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Galarneau
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult