Experts from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research drew their conclusions from an experiment involving 2,525 soldiers who had a yearlong tenure in the Iraq war.
A few months after the soldiers returned to their homes they were asked to fill out surveys asking about their individual war experiences, including whatever injuries they might have obtained. They were also asked about possible symptoms of PTSD, depression, and other medical complications.
According to WebMD, the results showed that 15 percent of the soldiers suffered concussions while in Iraq. Of this number, 5 percent said they lost consciousness, and 10 percent said they remained conscious.
Of the findings, experts reported that 44 percent of those who lost consciousness were later diagnosed as sufferers of PTSD, compared to the 27 percent for those who did not. Scientists added that those who lost consciousness also suffered from depression upon returning home.
There was also a notable difference in the cases of PTSD for those who suffered concussions, compared to the 17 percent of soldiers who suffered other injuries.
"There was indeed a higher rate of PTSD and/or health problems among those who had concussions, versus those with other injuries," said study author Dr, Christopher Hoge, the institute's director of psychiatry and neuroscience.
Other conditions such as poor health, sleeping problems, and more missed workdays were recorded for those who suffered concussions.
"This has implications for treatment, because obviously there's a big difference in how we treat someone if they're labeled as brain-injured versus that they, in fact, have PTSD," Dr. Hoge told the Washington Post.
The study was published in the Jan. 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
