Transcript Are Different Spanish Versions of the WAIS

The Ins and Outs of Analyzing A Large Dataset
of Military Personnel from Camp Lejeune
Andrea Mejia, Hana Kuwabara, Angela Sekely, Zara Melikyan, Antonio E. Puente, Ph.D.
Introduction
• An increasing number of military service members are
surviving injuries from Improvised Explosive Devices
(IED) including those delivered by vehicles and
indirect-fire attacks such as mortar fire and rocketpropelled grenades
• These individuals tend to display long-term effects of
traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and/or acquire long-term
health problems such as post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD)
Objective
• The current dataset contains over 1000 individuals,
more than 150 variables and close to 1,000 data points
per person.
• This study explores demographics and descriptive
information of a community based sample of active
duty military members who were referred to clinical
neuropsychologists because of reported cognitive and
psychological changes post deployment.
• This study also describes the process of obtaining the
forthcoming dataset
Summary
• To this date, 504 files out of 1,017 have been coded and checked for inter-rater reliability.
Descriptives
• Currently the lab is finishing recoding the dataset which will be
used for future research
• A process that has taken over 8 years
• A total of over 15 research assistant
Mean
SD
Age
26.33
7.11
Education
12.66
4.03
• Demographics of present sample matched Marine Corps
demographics from Camp Lejeune
• Of interest, most individuals have been deployed one to two
times
• Common symptoms among this population include headaches
and sleep disturbances
• The majority reported symptoms
• An example of interfacing a professional practice with a
university training site
• To this date, active duty medical staff members have not been
provided with empirically derived information from large
datasets to understand and treat individuals with PTSD/TBI
• There is limited information of the effects of combat related
PTSD/TBI
Future Directions
Method
• Data was compiled via a private practice associated
with Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. All individuals
participated through the Tricare health care program
and were referred by various military neurologists or
other medical officers.
• Participants were tested between 2004 - 2014
•
The descriptive demographics include:
• Basic demographics
• Symptoms
• Blast profile
• ASVAB scores
• The evaluation procedure is a modified
neuropsychological “Blast” battery which includes 3
hours of clinical interview and 7 hours of
neuropsychological tests administered over two
separate testing sessions.
•CVLT-II
•Stroop
•COWAT
•TOMM
•Groove Pegboard
•TSI
•Grip Strength
•WAIS-III/WAIS-IV
•Trails Making
•WMS-III/WMS-IV
•Hayling and Brixton
•WRAT-IV
•MMPI
POSTER TEMPLATE BY:
www.PosterPresentations.com
• Several concerns will be investigated including;
• Item Response Theory Analysis of the TSI & MMPI in an
attempt to create shortened assessments
• Creation of an app that is used as a quick yet efficient tool to
test military personnel while they are deployed or
immediately after they return
• Study the relationship of premorbid function to
neuropsychological deficits
• Study the effects of single vs. multiple blasts
• Study the validity of the TSI in the military population
• To investigate the outcome differences between blast and
non-blast injury
References
Strauss, E., Sherman, E., & Spreen, O. (2006). A compendium of
neuropsychological tests (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.