Noteboom The Law Firm

New TBI Screening Tool Being Deployed

January 13, 2011 - Traumatic Brain Injury (TBIs) have been dubbed the "signature wound" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Never before have so many soldiers been diagnosed with, and suffered from, TBIs as have in the last 10 years. One of the problems with TBIs, however, is properly diagnosing them. If they are not diagnosed accurately, there is no way they can be properly treated. If they're not properly treated, they can inflict long-term, damaging effects, which range from impairing cognitive functions to physical harm.

With hopes of preventing such tragedies, researchers at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine created a web-based TBI screening tool. The tool was put to the test by determining if soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffered TBIs at the 6th Annual Road to Recovery Conference and Tribute, which was held in Orlando.

If the tool can accurately diagnose TBIs, it will give hope for treatment. If TBIs can be detected early on, doctors may be able to intervene, diagnose and treat the TBI, and hopefully prevent many of the ongoing symptoms and issues that can impact the veterans' daily lives. TBI symptoms range from sleep disturbances, to difficulty concentrating, to difficulty completing day-to-day activities.

The web-based screening tool is called the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire (BISQ), and is used anonymously. Following the questionnaire, the program generates a report, which advises those determined to be at risk to seek help. Patients respond to questions centering around their history of head injuries resulting in the patients being rendered:

• Dazed;
• Confused;
• Unconscious; or
• Disoriented.

Approximately 41% of the patients undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were determined to suffer from TBIs using the BISQ. Some numbers show that approximately 7% of people across the nation suffer from both diagnosed and undiagnosed TBIs. More research will be conducted using the BISQ over the next few years.