No effect of mild nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning in U.S. Army Soldiers deployed to Iraq

With neurocognitive testing being heavily relied on for concussion assessments in the U.S. Warfighter, there is a need to investigate the impact of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning. Objectives: To determine if a nonconcussive injury may have a negative effect on neurocognitive functioning in a deployment setting. Methods: The current study compared scores on computerized and traditional neurocognitive tests of 166 Soldiers deployed to Iraq. Performance on a battery of tests was compared between a group of healthy deployed Soldiers (n = 102) versus a group of deployed Soldiers seeking outpatient care for mild injuries not involving the head or blast exposure (n = 62). Results: The injured group's performance was not significantly lower on any of the measures administered compared to healthy Soldiers. Conclusions: The results suggest that there was no significant effect of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning. Findings lend support to feasibility of using neurocognitive tests to evaluate the effects of concussion in theater.