Brain Injury: What Influences the Beliefs U.S. Service Members Have About Reporting and Seeking Care?

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the recent Department of Defense emphasis on traumatic brain injury (TBI) education and improvements in treatment, social, and attitudinal beliefs instilled in the military community hinder seeking medical assistance at the time of injury. This survey research presents injury reporting and care seeking behavioral patterns of service members (SMs) stationed in the Landstuhl catchment area in the context of TBI. This descriptive study investigated whether sociocultural factors influence health decision-making among SMs stationed abroad and how these compare to the SMs stationed in Fort Bliss and Fort Hood.

Materials and methods: A total of 969 of U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy SMs completed a voluntary and anonymous 2- to 5-minute paper survey during the month of March 2019. As a result of illegibility and incompleteness, 15 survey responses were removed from the total sample.

Results: Data analyses show three main findings about SMs in the Landstuhl catchment area: (a) older population (25-34, ≥48%; 18-24, 26.1%; +35, 25.4%) when compared to Fort Hood and Fort Bliss (≥48%; 18-24); (b) more years in service (7-13 years; 30.2%) versus 6 years or less in both Fort Hood and Fort Bliss (≥69%); (c) 54.8% of participants did not think TBI requires care versus 63.5% in both Fort Bliss and Fort Hood.

Conclusion: Results suggest that TBI beliefs and influences are constant variables hindering health decision-making choices in the military population. Beliefs about thinking that the injury does not require care, fear to jeopardize the career, and knowledge about TBI and treatments vary among the respondents and all these components influence treatment-seeking behaviors. The findings provide a preliminary framework to further investigate the role of culture in reporting and seeking treatment behaviors among SMs.