Racial and ethnic differences in the association between mild traumatic brain injury and work duty limitations in the US military.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined racial and ethnic differences in the association between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and work duty limitations in active-duty service members (ADSMs).

METHODS

This study used retrospective and cross-sectional data from the 2019-2021 Military Health System Data Repository on 910,700 ADSMs who were 18-64 years old and were grouped into racial and ethnic categories of White, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic/Latino; and Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic.

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics showed that Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian or Pacific Islander patients had a lower proportion of having a diagnosis of mTBI compared to White patients (ps < 0.001). Further, the proportion of history of deployment varied by racial and ethnic group and deployment location. Multivariate logistic regression results showed odds of 1.52 (p < 0.001) for White patients with mTBI, odds of 1.61 (p < 0.001) for Black patients with mTBI, odds of 1.57 (p < 0.001) for Hispanic/Latino patients with mTBI, and odds of 1.99 (p < 0.001) for Asian or Pacific Islander patients with mTBI for being placed on work duty limitations.

DISCUSSION: These results advance our understanding of the work duty limitations for racial/ethnic minority patients with mTBI in the Military Health System.