Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can place a significant financial and resource burden on healthcare systems. This study examined predictors of outpatient and inpatient healthcare utilization in veterans with a history of TBI.A secondary analysis was conducted on data from 1565 veterans with TBI and 1565 veterans without TBI seen for healthcare services at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System between 2000 and 2010. Patterns and predictors of outpatient and inpatient medical and psychiatric care were examined.Veterans with TBI utilized significantly more services compared with the control group. The TBI group was seen for more than 160 000 outpatient services and was almost 9 times more likely to be hospitalized than the control group. Although psychiatric disorders were more prevalent in the TBI group and associated with increased medical and mental health utilization within the TBI group, they did not account fully for the significant group differences.Veterans with a history of TBI have much greater healthcare needs than veterans without TBI, likely because of non-TBI-related factors. Increased monitoring and early intervention treatments may be warranted for certain at-risk veterans with the goal of minimizing their need for long-term or extensive healthcare services in the future.

View details for DOI 10.1097/HTR.0b013e318263bb61

View details for Web of Science ID 000313555400005

View details for PubMedID 22935573