Every year, thousands of service members suffer traumatic brain injuries.
These injuries can result from blows or jolts to the head or penetrating head injuries that disrupt the function of the brain. They have a wide range of severity, from mild brain injuries known as concussions to severe trauma resulting in extended unconsciousness or amnesia.
Civilian males between the ages of 18 and 24 are at the greatest risk for experiencing TBI. Service men in this age range, which represents the military’s largest demographic group, experience an added risk due to the dangerous nature of many operational and training activities.
The Military Health System health information technology community dedicates resources every month to developing software for the diagnosis, management and treatment of brain injuries. Join them this month in focusing on TBI research, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.
Application upgrades currently underway to Army Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care electronic health record systems, now used in Iraq and Afghanistan, will provide better methods for capturing and reporting mild TBI data. Ninety percent of TBIs are mild, but repeated injuries can result in more severe and lasting damage. By improving reporting of these injuries, the health IT community is helping to improve health care for service members.
The military health IT community continues its mission of improving TBI care by developing the Neurological Cognitive Assessment Tool. NCAT captures baseline neurocognitive assessments that may aid in the detection and diagnosis of mild TBI by comparing results across current, baseline and normative populations. In addition to collecting clinical data, NCAT is able to provide de-identified information for research purposes. The program is currently in limited-user testing.
In addition to developing software like NCAT, the military health IT community supports treatment of TBI through the Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program. CAP provides many forms of assistive technology to TBI patients who may suffer from a range of symptoms affecting their cognitive abilities.
Cueing technologies and memory aids help organize work assignments, calendars and general information to facilitate service members and federal employees in task and event processing. Scanners and magnifiers are available for TBI patients who have lost some visual acuity or have difficulty processing text. CAP also provides listening devices to TBI patients with partial hearing loss.
The “T2 Mood Tracker,” created by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, enables service members and veterans to keep track of their emotions and behaviors following a deployment. Data captured about daily emotional struggles and successes help health care providers identify potential undiagnosed TBIs. The MHS Office of the Chief Information Officer is also testing commercial mobile devices for usability with its electronic health record applications, which could expand the ability of emergency health care providers to record and report TBI information for providers in military treatment facilities.
Brain injuries are often invisible injuries that can result in disruption of cognitive function, impaired memory or reduced motor skills. Despite their often hidden cause, brain injuries need to be taken seriously by service members, families, providers and the general public. By focusing on TBI in March, the military health IT community highlights not only this serious invisible injury, but also the many programs and initiatives that support the service members who live with it.