Comparison of blast-exposed OEF/OIF veterans with and without a history of TBI symptoms on a brief computerized neuropsychological battery

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mild TBIs) resulting from exposure to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are highly prevalent among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exploratory study compared the neurocognitive performance of blast-exposed veterans with (n=19) and without (n=15) reported symptoms of mild TBI. All subjects had diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neurocognitive testing was administered using a well-established computerized battery, the Penn Computerized Neuropsychological Battery (CNB), and groups were well matched on age, race, education, and time since most recent blast exposure. Although differences were not observed on CNB accuracy scores, MANOVAs revealed slower processing speed in the mTBI group when answering correctly on tests of simple and sustained attention, with large effect sizes. Results suggest a potential speed-accuracy tradeoff in blast-related mild TBI, which should be further examined in larger samples.