Neuropsychological Outcomes of Army Personnel Following Deployment to the Iraq War
Abstract
Since early 2003, significant numbers of military personnel have deployed in support of Opera Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Although contemporary battlefield measures have improved war-zone survival, success in preventing fatalities has not eliminated adverse physical or mental health consequences, One major war-related health risk is brain dysfunction. Brain dysfunction is often indicted by neurophysiological (i,e. cognitive and emotional) impairment. In past military conflicts, cognitive impairment figured prominently among veteran health complaints, ranking fourth among 1991 Gulf War veterans in government health registries. Because of its potential negative impact on occupational and psychosocial functioning in a predominantly young population, war-related neuropsychological impairment has significant public health implications. Yet, the consequences of war-zone deployment on neuropsychological health remains poorly understood. Knowledge gaps stem largely from a lack of baseline (pre-deployment) health information, reliance in large studies on subjective outcome indices, assessments conducted long (sometimes years) after war-zone exposure, and infrequent use of appropriate nondeployed comparison samples, Study objective was to examine neuropsychological outcomes following Iraq deployment. The study incorporated a prospective, cohort-controlled design measuring subjective and objective neuropsychological outcomes in US Army Soldiers deploying to Iraq. Army Soldiers with similar military characteristics from units not deploying overseas compromise the comparison group. Based on the anticipation that Iraq deployment would involve risks of neuropsychological compromise (e.g. environmental exposures, prolonged physiological arousal associated with survival responses. head injury), we hypothesized that deployment would be associated with adverse neuropsychological outcomes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 02, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA520888
Entities
People
- Jennifer J. Vasterling
- Paul Amoroso
- Robert Kane
- Roberta F. White
- Susan P. Proctor
- Timothy Heeren
Organizations
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System