Frequency of factors that complicate the identification of mild traumatic brain injury in level I trauma center patients

AIM: Determine the frequency of factors that complicate identification of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in emergency department patients. SETTING: Chart review. MATERIALS & METHODS: Records of 3042 patients (age 18–45 years) exposed to a potential mechanism of mTBI were reviewed for five common complicating factors and signs of mTBI. RESULTS: Most patients (65.1%) had at least one complicating factor: given narcotics in the emergency department (43.7%), on psychotropic medication (18.4%), psychiatric diagnosis (15.3%), alcohol consumption near time of admission (14.2%) and preadmission narcotic prescription (8.9%). CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the frequency of these confounding factors in this population. Future research should identify how these factors interact with performance on assessment measures to improve evidence-based mTBI assessment in this population.