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Trauma and Critical Care

Associations Between Injury Severity, Fracture Location, and PTSD Risk in Traumatic Brain Injury: Insights from the TRACK-TBI Pilot Dataset

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Barbara Buccilli, MD

    Cerebrovascular and Neurocritical Care Pre-residency Fellow
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    New York, NY, US

Introduction: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can lead to persistent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet factors influencing PTSD risk remain complex. This study investigates associations between PTSD outcomes at 6 months and variables related to injury location, severity, and demographic factors within TBI patients.

Methods: Using data from the TRACK-TBI Pilot Dataset (Nielson et al., 2023), we analyzed injury and demographic characteristics in 586 patients. Variables included fracture locations (skull, skull base, and facial fractures), injury severity scores (Marshall and Rotterdam), and PTSD status at 6 months. We conducted descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and subgroup comparisons by severity, using chi-square tests for statistical significance.

Results: Fracture location did not significantly predict PTSD at 6 months. Logistic regression analysis showed no significant associations between specific fractures (skull, skull base, or facial) and PTSD risk (p > 0.05 for all fracture types). Analysis by injury severity revealed decreasing PTSD rates with higher Marshall and Rotterdam scores, with PTSD prevalence ranging from 28.9% (Marshall score 1) to 0% (score 6) and from 25.0% (Rotterdam score 1) to 0% (score 6). However, chi-square tests indicated that these differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.225 for Marshall; p = 0.840 for Rotterdam).

Conclusion : Injury severity, as assessed by Marshall and Rotterdam scores, shows a potential inverse trend with PTSD rates at 6 months, but this relationship is not statistically significant. Fracture location also does not significantly affect PTSD development. These findings suggest that factors beyond injury location and severity may play a role in PTSD risk post-TBI. Further research should explore broader clinical and genetic factors contributing to PTSD in TBI patients, to support personalized mental health care approaches.