title: No effect of mild nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning in U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Iraq.
abstract: With neurocognitive testing being heavily relied on for concussion assessments in the U.S. Warfighter, there is a need to investigate the impact of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if a nonconcussive injury may have a negative effect on neurocognitive functioning in a deployment setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The current study compared scores on computerized and traditional neurocognitive tests of 166 Soldiers deployed to Iraq. Performance on a battery of tests was compared between a group of healthy deployed Soldiers (n = 102) versus a group of deployed Soldiers seeking outpatient care for mild injuries not involving the head or blast exposure (n = 62).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The injured group's performance was not significantly lower on any of the measures administered compared to healthy Soldiers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that there was no significant effect of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning. Findings lend support to feasibility of using neurocognitive tests to evaluate the effects of concussion in theater.
authors.affiliation: Warfighter Health Division, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, 6901 Farrel Road, Fort Rucker, AL 36362-0577, USA.
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Dretsch
authors.forename: Rodney L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Coldren
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Robert V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Parish
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control*