Effectiveness of a Vestibular Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) Tool for Identifying mTBI and Tracking Recovery in Military Personnel
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a signature injury sustained by U.S. military personnel during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and accounts for nearly 83% of all brain injuries reported from 2001-2013 in U.S. military personnel. Over a quarter million U.S. military personnel have had at least one mTBI since 2001. Many U.S. military personnel with mTBI experience impairment and symptoms that result from the injured brain s inability to integrate head and eye movements. These impairments and symptoms are associated with poor outcomes following mTBI including longer recovery times. Currently, there are no brief assessments of these symptoms and impairments in use by U.S. military medical personnel. We recently developed a new measure, called the Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening tool or VOMS for short, to screen for these symptoms and impairment. Our preliminary findings in civilians suggest that over 60% of them experience these impairments and symptoms following mTBI. We also found that the VOMS was nearly 90% accurate in identifying mTBI and was useful in tracking recovery from this injury. The objective of the proposed study is to determine if the new VOMS tool can help identify military personnel with mTBI and track recovery to return to duty (RTD). The VOMS is very brief (it takes only 5 minutes to administer), requires very limited equipment (a small stick with a 14 point font target on it), and complements current assessment tools used by U.S. military medical personnel. In addition, corpsman-level medical personnel, who are typically the first medical provider to assess mTBI, can administer the VOMS in both combat and non-combat environments. We plan to conduct a 3-year, multi-site study at Ft. Bragg, Ft. Benning, and Ft. Lewis in which we will: (1) train U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) medical personnel to administer, score, and interpret the VOMS with 500 healthy personnel in Years 1 and 2; (2) compare the impairment and symptoms on the VOMS of 100 USASOC personnel with mTBI to those of 100 healthy personnel in Years 2 and 3; and (3) compare the impairment and symptoms on the VOMS of 50 USASOC personnel with blast mTBI to those of 50 USASOC personnel with blunt mTBI (Year 3). The VOMS may offer a low-cost, field-deployable screening tool for mTBI that can lead to safer RTD decisions and less risk to injured personnel, as well as secondary risks (from impaired performance levels) to other personnel in their units. Ultimately, the VOMS tool may help expedite identification of U.S. military personnel with impairments and symptoms related to head and eye movements following mTBI. In so doing, the VOMS tool may help to inform earlier patient referrals for more targeted therapies and treatments, thereby reducing morbidity and recovery time, and decreasing the risk for long-term effects on U.S. military personnel and their families.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1610011
Entities
People
- Anthony Kontos
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Pittsburgh