Pharmacotherapy regimens among patients with posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury

The purpose of this study was to determine if veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) are treated differently pharmacologically than patients with PTSD alone.

A retrospective evaluation of PTSD pharmacotherapy of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans with PTSD (N=707) was conducted between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2009. A total of 45 veterans had suffered a mild TBI.

Compared with the patients with PTSD alone, the patients with PTSD and TBI were more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant (p<.001), a sedative-hypnotic (p<.001), or an antipsychotic (p=.024). The patients with TBI were also significantly more likely to receive psychotropic polypharmacy (p=.001) and to receive higher doses of psychiatric medications (p=.03).

The differences in drug therapy found in this study may indicate that patients with TBI and PTSD respond differently to treatment than patients with PTSD alone.