People experiencing traumatic brain injuries, even mild ones, were more likely to experience a psychiatric illness within a year of their injury, according to a UW study of Group Health Cooperative members.

The results of the study led by Jesse Fann, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, were published in the January issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the Journal of the American Medical Association Archives journals. The study was supported by a grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The group studied 939 Group Health members diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries ranging from mild to severe. Researchers found that 49 percent of people with moderate to severe injuries developed some type of psychiatric illness within a year of their injury. Of those suffering mild injuries, 34 percent developed a psychiatric illness within a year. In the control group, which consisted of Group Health members who did not suffer a traumatic brain injury, 18 percent of people developed a psychiatric illness in a one-year period.