Traumatic Brain Injury Among Homeless Veterans

Traumatic Brain Injury Among Homeless Veterans

Objectives include: 1) establishing a psychometrically sound traumatic brain injury (TBI) screening measure for use among homeless veterans; 2) identifying the prevalence of those that screen positive for TBI among homeless veterans seeking VA services; and 3) comparing psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes between those with and without a history of TBI.

Short-term Objectives include:

1. Establishing the criterion-related validity of the Traumatic Brain Injury-4 (TBI-4) questionnaire in the Veteran homeless population using the Ohio State University TBI-Identification Method (OSU TBI-ID) (Corrigan et al., 2007) as the gold standard for establishing traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnosis.
2. Identifying the prevalence of those that screen positive for a lifetime history of TBI among homeless Veterans.
3. Comparing psychiatric outcomes (psychiatric hospitalizations, suicide attempts and deaths, and clinical contacts) and psychosocial outcomes between those with and without a lifetime history of TBI.

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 years of age, seeking homeless services at one of the VA Homeless Services Programs.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Failure to provide informed consent, not older than 89 years of age.