Irritability Among Veterans With Chronic Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Psychological and Sensory Neurophysiological Factors

OBJECTIVE: The etiology of irritability among persons with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is poorly understood. The authors investigated relationships among irritability, posttraumatic stress (PTS), and multiple sensory processing indices among veterans with or without mTBI. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study (N=124), military veterans with chronic mTBI (experimental group; N=61) and veterans without a history of TBI (control group; N=63) completed the Brief Irritability Test (BITe; primary outcome) and Irritability Questionnaire (IRQ; secondary outcome). The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 was used to measure PTS symptoms, with scores ≥33 indicating probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pain, computerized postural control, and functional hearing (signal-to-noise ratio [SNR] loss) were also assessed. RESULTS: =0.028-0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Irritability was a prominent symptom among veterans with chronic mTBI and was strongly associated with PTSD and pain, with additional contributions from auditory processing. These findings suggest that irritability in chronic mTBI is multifactorial, reflecting both psychological and sensory neurophysiological factors.