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Whether psychiatric complications occur more frequently after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) than after other injuries remains disputed. These investigators prospectively compared postinjury psychiatric diagnoses in 1155 patients with mTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale score, 13–15) — some of whom had a more complicated form of mTBI with evidence of damage on computed tomography — with 230 patients with noncranial orthopedic injuries. All patients were seen in emergency departments. Participants were assessed with self-administered rating scales for depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms within a day of the injury and at 2 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months postinjury.
The rates of probable PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD…