Chronic headaches after traumatic brain injury: Diagnostic complexity associated with increased cost.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic headache after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common, yet disabling, disorder whose diverse clinical characteristics and treatment needs remain poorly defined.

Objective

To examine diagnostic coding patterns and cost among military Veterans with comorbid chronic headache and TBI.

Methods

We identified 141,125 post-9/11 era Veterans who served between 2001 and 2019 with a headache disorder diagnosed after TBI. We first identified patterns of Complex Headache Combinations (CHC) and then compared the patterns of healthcare costs in 2022-dollar values in the three years following the TBI diagnosis.

Results

Veterans had diverse individual headache and CHC diagnoses with uniformly high cost of care. Post-whiplash and post-TBI CHCs were common an

SUBMITTER: McGeary D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11613006 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature