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Context Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly prevalent among veterans because of combat and may impair cognition. Objective To determine whether PTSD is associated with the risk of developing dementia among older US veterans receiving treatment in Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Design A stratified, retrospective cohort study conducted using the Department of Veterans Affairs National Patient Care Database. Setting Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers in the United States. Participants A total of 181,093 veterans 55 years or older without dementia from fiscal years 1997 through 2000 (53,155 veterans with and 127,938 veterans without PTSD). Main Outcome Measures During the follow-up period between October 1, 2000, and December 31, 2007, 31,107 (17.2%) veterans were ascertained to have newly diagnosed dementia according to International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Results The mean baseline age of the veterans was 68.8 years, and174,806 (96.5%) were men. Veterans with PTSD had a 7-year cumulative incident dementia rate of 10.6% whereas those without had a rate of 6.6% (P<.001). With age as the time scale, Cox proportional hazards models indicated that patients with PTSD were more than twice as likely to develop incident dementia compared with those without PTSD (Hazard Ratio [HR] = 2.31, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 2.24–2.39). After multivariable adjustment for demographics, medical and neuropsychiatric comorbidities, patients with PTSD were still more likely to develop dementia (HR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.70–1.85). Results were similar when we excluded those with a history of head injury, substance abuse, or clinical depression. Conclusions We found that in a predominantly male veteran cohort, those diagnosed as having PTSD were at a nearly 2-fold-higher risk of developing dementia compared with those without PTSD. Mechanisms linking these important disorders need to be identified with the hope of finding ways to reduce the increased risk of dementia associated with PTSD.

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The present study demonstrates that clinically significant symptoms of traumatic stress are common in acute leukemia and are linked to the degree of physical suffering, to satisfaction with relationships with health-care providers, and with individual psychological characteristics. Longitudinal study is needed to determine the natural history, but these findings suggest that intervention may be indicated to alleviate or prevent traumatic stress in this population.

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Armed conflict in Colombia has resulted in the displacement of an estimated 4.5 million people, or about 10% of the Colombian population. Hundreds of thousands of Colombians are exposed to violence and forced displacement annually. The present study used survey methods to assess levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms in a convenience sample of 109 internally displaced adults residing in Medellín, Colombia. A qualitative approach including an open-ended survey and focus groups with a subsample of 44 survey respondents was used to gain a better understanding of mental health treatment needs. A large proportion of survey respondents exceeded cut-scores for clinically significant PTSD (88%), anxiety (59%), and depression (41%). Multivariate regression models showed that female gender was a significant predictor of higher PTSD symptom levels and that female gender, higher education, and being separated as opposed to married predicted higher levels of depression symptoms. Focus group findings suggest that participants are interested in specialized psychological treatments as well as broader psychosocial interventions to treat the consequences of exposure to violence and forced displacement.

Object:The purpose of the current study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of an eye tracking method as a classifier for identifying concussion.Methods:Brain injured and control subjects prospectively underwent both eye tracking and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3. The results of eye tracking biomarker based classifier models were then validated against a dataset of individuals not used in building a model. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics was examined.Results:An optimal classifier based on best subset had an AUC of 0.878, and a cross-validated AUC of 0.852 in CT- subjects and an AUC of 0.831 in a validation dataset. The optimal misclassification rate in an external dataset (n = 254) was 13%.Conclusion:If one defines concussion based on history, examination, radiographic and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 criteria, it is possible to generate an eye tracking based biomarker that enables detection of concussion with reasonably high sensitivity and specificity.

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