multisensory impairment reported by veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury history

This article and any supplementary material should be cited as follows: Pogoda TK, Hendricks AM, Iverson KM, Stolzmann KL, Krengel MH, Baker E, Meterko M, Lew HL. Multisensory impairment reported by veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury history. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2012;49(7):971–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2011.06.0099

Slideshow ProjectDOI:10.1682/JRRD.2011.06.0099JSP

Multisensory impairment reported by veterans with and without

mild traumatic brain injury history

Terri K. Pogoda, PhD; Ann M. Hendricks, PhD; Katherine M. Iverson, PhD; Kelly L. Stolzmann, MS;

Maxine H. Krengel, PhD; Errol Baker, PhD; Mark Meterko, PhD; Henry L. Lew, MD, PhD



• Aim – Identify co-occurrence of self-reported auditory, visual, and

vestibular impairment, known as “multisensory impairment” (MSI).

– Examine demographic, deployment-related, and mental health characteristics that might predict MSI.

• Relevance– Growing literature suggests auditory, visual, and vestibular

symptoms are common among Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).



Methods• Retrospective database study of veterans completing

Department of Veterans Affairs comprehensive TBI evaluation between Oct 2007 and Jun 2009.

• 3 sets of logistic regressions were performed to predict MSI: – Each demographic, deployment-related, and mental

health variable was entered separately.– All variables except PTSD and depression were entered

simultaneously.– All variables were entered simultaneously.



Results• MSI:

– Across sample: 13.9%.– Subsample with mild TBI and both nonblast and blast

injuries: 17.4%.

• Factors significantly predictive of reporting MSI:– Older age, being female, lower rank, and etiology of

injury.– Deployment-related mild TBI history, posttraumatic

stress disorder, and depression.• Mild TBI history most robust among these conditions.



Distribution (%) of patient-reported sensory impairment.



Conclusion• A better understanding of impairments

incurred by deployed servicemembers:– Is needed to fully understand spectrum of blast

and nonblast dysfunction.– May allow for more targeted interventions to be

developed to address these issues.

multisensory impairment reported by veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury history

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