Military and Veterans Affairs
Brain Injury
Oral Presentation
Jessica Ketchum, PhD
Lead Biostatistician
Craig Hospital
Engleweeod, Colorado
Lillian Stevens, PhD
Research Psychologist
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
Richmond, Virginia
Angelle Sander, Ph.D., FACRM
Associate Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
Anthony Lequerica, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
Kessler Foundation
East Hanover, New Jersey
Jacob Finn, PhD
Clinician Investigator
Minneapolis VA Healthcare System
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Maria Kajankova, PhD
Assistant Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York
Stephanie Kolakowsky-Hayner, PhD, CBIST, FACRM
Associate Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York
Shannon Juengst, PhD, CRC
Assistant Professor
UT Southwestern
Dallas, Texas
Kelli Gary, PhD, MPH, OTR/L
Assistant Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia
Amanda Rabinowitz, Ph.D.
Institute Scientist
Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Laura Dreer, PhD
Associate Professor
Universtity of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Librada Callender, MPH
Epidemiologist
Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation
Dallas, Texas
Christina Dillahunt-Aspillaga, PhD, CRC, CVE, CLCP, CBIST,CIRS
Associate Professor; Research Affiliate
USF - RMHC, Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Hospital Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Center
Tampa, Florida
Kristin Graham, PhD, CRC
Assistant Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia
Objective:
To examine racial/ethnic disparities in community participation among Veterans and Active Duty Service Members with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design : Prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional, observational cohort study.
Setting :
Five Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRC).
Participants (or Animals, Specimens, Cadavers):
342 community dwelling adults (251 White, 34 Black, 57 Hispanic) with TBI who were enrolled in the VA TBIMS National Database and completed one-year follow-up interview. Mean age was 38.6 years (range = 19-84).
Interventions:
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure(s):
Community participation at one-year post-injury was assessed by three domains of the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools- Objective (PART-O): Out & About, Productivity, Social Relations.
Results:
There were significant differences among race/ethnicity groups in PART-O domains without controlling for relevant subject characteristics; Productivity scores were significantly higher for Hispanic than White participants (p = 0.0169) and Out & About scores were significantly higher for Black than White participants (p = 0.0056). After controlling for additional demographic, injury, and 1-year follow-up characteristics, only the Out & About difference remained statistically significant (p = 0.0094).
Conclusions: Race/ethnicity disparities in community participation were evident in this military sample with TBI after controlling for covariates. Possible explanations and implications will be discussed.
