Baseline vestibular and auditory findings in a trial of post-concussive syndrome

Previous studies have reported high rates of auditory and vestibular-balance deficits immediately following head injury. This study uses a comprehensive battery of assessments to characterize auditory and vestibular function in 71 U.S. military service members with chronic symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury that did not resolve with traditional interventions. The majority of the study population reported hearing loss (70%) and recent vestibular symptoms (83%). Central auditory deficits were most prevalent, with 58% of participants failing the SCAN3:A screening test and 45% showing abnormal responses on auditory steady-state response testing presented at a suprathreshold intensity. Only 17% of the participants had abnormal hearing (⟩25 dB hearing loss) based on the pure-tone average. Objective vestibular testing supported significant deficits in this population, regardless of whether the participant self-reported active symptoms. Composite score on the Sensory Organization Test was lower than expected from normative data (mean 69.6 ±vestibular tests, vestibulo-ocular reflex, central auditory dysfunction, mild traumatic brain injury, post-concussive symptoms, hearing15.6). High abnormality rates were found in funduscopy torsion (58%), oculomotor assessments (49%), ocular and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (46% and 33%, respectively), and monothermal calorics (40%). It is recommended that a full peripheral and central auditory, oculomotor, and vestibular-balance evaluation be completed on military service members who have sustained head trauma.

The impact of psychological trauma on wages in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the last three decades, armed conflict has increasingly been fought among civilian populations, resulting in greater physical and mental tolls. Soldiers returning from combat with psychological trauma are now receiving medical and policy attention for reintegration into the workforce. However, there is little attention on the impacts and options available to civilians who may face similar problems achieving labor force success after exposure to war-related trauma. Using the Bosnia and Herzegovina Living Standards Measurement Survey for years 2001-2004, we study wage attainment for 7659 respondents in relation to a series of psychological trauma measures which correspond to those used in PTSD diagnosis. In standard OLS regression, all subcomponents of PTSD have a negative impact; however, once unobserved individual heterogeneity is taken into account, some of the individual elements of psychological trauma have positive impacts on wage attainment. This is one of the first studies to find evidence of Posttraumatic Growth using information beyond psychometric instruments. The impact of the PTSD condition itself is insignificant in both models, and we do not find evidence of selection bias. We determine that the traditional means of predicting wages in labor economics are relevant in a post-conflict environment.