Association of Blood-Based Biomarkers and 6-Month Patient-Reported Outcomes in Patients With Mild TBI: A CENTER-TBI Analysis

2024

Blood Biomarkers and Patient Outcomes After Mild TBI

Sample size: 1589 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Daniel P. Whitehouse, Lindsay Wilson, Endre Czeiter, Andras Buki, Kevin K.W. Wang, Nicole von Steinbüchel, Marina Zeldovich, Ewout Steyerberg, Andrew I.R. Maas, David K. Menon, Virginia F.J. Newcombe

Primary Institution: University of Cambridge

Hypothesis

Higher levels of day-of-injury biomarkers will be positively associated with worse patient-reported outcomes in both CT-negative and CT-positive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients.

Conclusion

Higher concentrations of day-of-injury biomarkers are significantly associated with increased odds of functional impairment in both CT-positive and CT-negative mTBI patients.

Supporting Evidence

Higher biomarker levels were associated with a GOSE score <8.
CT-positive participants had higher odds of incomplete recovery.
Inverse associations were observed between GFAP levels and mental health outcomes in CT-negative participants.
Biomarker concentrations were significantly raised in participants with CT-positive mTBI.
Participants with higher GFAP concentrations reported better HRQoL in CT-negative cases.

Takeaway

This study found that higher levels of certain blood markers after a mild brain injury can mean a worse recovery, but the relationship with mental health outcomes is more complicated.

Methodology

Participants with mild TBI were selected from the CENTER-TBI study, and multivariable binary logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between biomarker levels and 6-month outcomes.