title: Screening for traumatic brain injury: findings and public health implications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide an overview of a series of projects that used a structured self-report screening tool in diverse settings and samples to screen for lifetime history of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Diverse community settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Homeless persons (n = 111), individuals with HIV seeking vocational rehabilitation (n = 173), youth in the juvenile justice system (n = 271), public schoolchildren (n = 174), substance users (n = 845), intercollegiate athletes (n = 90), and other community-based samples (n = 396).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Screening using the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire finds that 27% to 54% of those in high-risk populations report a history of TBI with chronic symptoms. Associations between TBI and social, academic, or other problems are evident in several studies. In non-high-risk community samples, 9% to 12% of individuals report TBI with chronic symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Systematic TBI screening can be implemented efficiently and inexpensively in a variety of settings. Lifetime TBI history data gathered using a structured self-report instrument can augment existing estimates of the prevalence of TBI, both as an acute event and as a chronic condition. Identification of individuals with TBI can facilitate primary prevention efforts, such as reducing risk for reinjury in high-risk groups, and provide access to appropriate interventions that can reduce the personal and societal costs of TBI (tertiary prevention).
authors.affiliation: Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine (Drs Dams-O'Connor, Cantor, Dijkers, Spielman, and Gordon) and Preventive Medicine (Dr Brown), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dams-OʼConnor
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Cantor
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Marcel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Dijkers
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Spielman
authors.forename: Wayne A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires