Our Publications

Short description: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are strong predictors of poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among injured U.S. military service members (SMs).

Short description: Health behaviors may be core contributors to cognition and mental health following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Short description: To examine the relationship between deployment-related concussion and long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among injured US military personnel.

Short description: Service members with amputations experience numerous challenges, yet few studies have examined patient-reported outcomes, including physical functional status, mental-health screening status, and quality of life (QOL) or the relationship between these outcomes.

Short description: The post-9/11 U.S. military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan lasted over a decade and yielded the most combat casualties since the Vietnam War.

Short description: The `golden hour` is a universal paradigm that suggests trauma patients have lower morbidity and mortality when provided with medical care within 1 hour after injury.

Short description: The purpose of this study was to identify symptom profiles among U.S. military personnel within 1 year after combat injury and assess the relationship between the symptom profiles and long-term quality of life (QoL).

Short description: Cognitive difficulties typically resolve within days to weeks following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI); however, a sizable proportion of individuals continue to report cognitive symptoms months to years later that are often associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression to a greater degree than a history of mTBI.

Short description: More than 52,000 casualties have been documented in post-9/11 conflicts. Service members with extremity injuries (EIs) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be at particular risk for long-term deficits in mental and physical health functioning compared with service members with other injuries.

Short description: To better understand long-term health outcomes after combat injury, a large, prospective observational cohort collecting both subjective and objective health data is needed.

Short description: With more service members than ever surviving their wounds, prospective research on factors related to long-term, patient-reported outcomes, including self-rated health (SRH), has increased importance.

Short description: Research on residential posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment has predominantly focused on the U.S. veteran population, whereas limited research exists regarding active duty service members.

Short description: Sex- and gender-based health disparities are well established and may be of particular concern for service women. Given that injured service members are at high risk of adverse mental and behavioral health outcomes, it is important to address any such disparities in this group, especially in regard to patient-reported outcomes, as much of the existing research has focused on objective medical records.

Short description: Service members (SMs) who are injured on deployment are at risk for myriad long-term health problems that may be ancillary to their physical injury, including high rates of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, and poor health behaviors (e.g., problem drinking, cigarette and tobacco use, poor sleep quality, and sedentary lifestyle).

Short description: Pain is a significant public health issue that may be particularly problematic among injured service members who are at high risk of chronic physical and mental health conditions. The goals of this study were to describe the prevalence and types of low back pain (acute vs. recurrent) among service members injured while on combat deployments, and to examine the differences in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression prevalence and severity, as well as quality of life, for individuals with low back pain compared with those without.

Short description: Blast injury emerged as a primary source of morbidity among US military personnel during the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and led to an array of adverse health outcomes. Multimorbidity, or the presence of two or more medical conditions in an individual, can complicate treatment strategies. To date, there is minimal research on the impact of multimorbidity on long-term patient-reported outcomes. We aimed to define multimorbidity patterns in a population of blast-injured military personnel, and to examine these patterns in relation to long-term quality of life (QOL).

Short description: Poor mental health and quality of life (QOL) are common among service members exposed to trauma and may be more pronounced among those injured on combat deployment. It is vital to identify factors that attenuate these issues. This study examined whether perceived support from friends and family buffer associations between level of trauma exposure, mental health symptoms (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression), and QOL.

Short description: LBP is a common secondary health condition after amputation with important implications related to function and quality of life. A growing body of evidence suggests that psychosocial factors influence LBP in patients without amputation. However, there is a dearth of information regarding the association of psychosocial factors and LBP after amputation.

Short description: The objective of this study was to describe the functional status of US service members after combat-related amputation. This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from a subsample of the Wounded Warrior Recovery Project, an ongoing, web-based, longitudinal examination of patient-reported outcomes of injured service members.

Short description: The survival rate of those injured in combat in overseas contingency operations is higher than in previous conflicts. There is a need to assess the long-term psychosocial and quality of life outcomes of those injured in combat.

Short description: As part of a large-scale, longitudinal examination of patient-reported outcomes of service members injured on deployment, the present manuscript evaluated the effectiveness of three postal strategies on response rates: (1) mailing a study prenotification postcard, (2) mailing the survey invitation in a larger envelope, and (3) including a small cash preincentive ($2).

Short description: Little is known about the long-term, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of those wounded in combat during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. The present study described the overall HRQOL for a large group of US service members experiencing mild-to-severe combat-related injuries, and assessed the unique contribution of demographics, service- and injury-related characteristics, and mental health factors on long-term HRQOL.

Short description: Associations between body region injured and psychosocial outcomes may have implications for injury prevention and mitigation strategies. The present study investigated the association of body-region-specific injuries and their association with 3 psychosocial outcomes (i.e., quality of life, QOL; posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD; and depression) among a large sample of U.S. military service members injured in combat.

Short description: This study extends what is known about long-term health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and other psychosocial outcomes (i.e., depression, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) among US military combat amputees serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn.

Short description: There is a need for more work to understand the quality of life (QOL) outcomes of survivors of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom combat injury to improve care and treatment, and prevent poor physical, psychological, and social outcomes. We describe the study design and methods of the Wounded Warrior Recovery Project, a study supported by the Department of Defense that will track close to 10,000 military personnel wounded in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.