Auditory, Vestibular and Cognitive Effects due to Repeated Blast Exposure on the Warfighter

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically the auditory (i.e., hearing) and vestibular (i.e., balance) symptoms of military Warfighters who were recently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The study employed a prospective, between-subjects research design comparing an experimental group (service members who have been diagnosed with BI-TBI) to a control group (service members who do not have clinical symptoms consistent with BI-TBI). A total of96 volunteers were recruited and consented, with a final enrollment of 68 participants. Results show that there are differences between the vestibular function of service members without history of BI-TBI and those with a history of BI-TBI that could be diagnosed clinically with instrumentation that proved to be reliable and well tolerated by service members with TBI.