Objective. The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of subconcussive head trauma, traumatic brain injury (TBI), potential hypoxic events, and hypoxic brain injury (HBI) in victims of physical intimate partner violence (IPV). The study also aimed to characterize the injury presentation and mechanisms of injury in this population. Method. A group of 47 female participants with a history of at least one relationship that included physical violence completed a structured interview assessing for subconcussive hits, TBI, and HBI. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 55, and had an average of 15.3 years of education. Forty-four participants completed the structured interview in person and three participants completed the interview over the phone. Results. The majority of participants reported sustaining at least one impact to the head and approximately half of the participants sustained at least one impact that resulted in a mild TBI. Approximately half of the participants experienced at least one incident of having difficulty breathing due to a violent act from their partner, and approximately one-third of participants reported symptoms consistent with mild HBI. The most common mechanisms of injury were being hit with a closed fist and being strangled. Conclusions. The high levels of head trauma observed in this study highlight the need for clinical and community providers to screen victims of physical IPV for head trauma. The unique characteristics of this population (female sex, high frequency of injuries, and presence of HBIs) indicate that research evaluating the cognitive effects of injuries in this population is needed.

Background Sleep disturbance (SD) is common in patients with cancer and has been associated with worse clinical outcomes. This cross-sectional study explored the prevalence of SD in a primary brain tumor (PBT) population, identified associated demographic and clinical characteristics, and investigated co-occurrence of SD with other symptoms and mood disturbance. Methods Demographic, clinical characteristics, MDASI-Brain Tumor, and PROMIS Depression and Anxiety Short-Forms were collected from PBT patients at study entry. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and independent t-tests were used to report results. Results The sample included 424 patients (58% male, 81% Caucasian) with a mean age of 49 years (range 18-81) and 58% with high-grade gliomas. Moderate-severe SD was reported in 19% of patients and was associated with younger age, poor KPS, tumor progression on MRI, and active corticosteroid use. Those with moderate-severe SD had higher overall symptom burden and reported more moderate-severe symptoms. These individuals also reported higher severity in affective and mood disturbance domains, with 3 to 4 times higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The most frequently co-occurring symptoms with SD were, drowsiness, and distress, though other symptoms typically associated with tumor progression also frequently co-occurred. Conclusions PBT patients with moderate-severe SD are more symptomatic, have worse mood disturbance, and have several co-occurring symptoms. Targeting interventions for sleep could potentially alleviate other co-occurring symptoms, which may improve life quality for PBT patients. Future longitudinal work examining objective and detailed subjective sleep reports, as well as underlying genetic risk factors, will be important.

Background Cognitive impairments are a common burden for patients with primary CNS tumors. Neuropsychological assessment batteries can be too lengthy, which limits their use as an objective measure of cognition during routine care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and utility of the brief Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in routine in-person and telehealth visits (as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic) with neuro-oncology patients. Methods 71 adults with primary CNS tumors completed MoCA testing in-person (n=47) and via telehealth (n=24). Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), including symptom burden and interference, perceived cognition, general health status, and anxiety and depression, were and correlation analysis were included in this study. Feasibility was assessed through a provider satisfaction questionnaire. Results Patients were primarily White (83%), college-educated (71%) males (54%) with high grade tumors (66%). The average total score on the MoCA administered in-person was 25 (range: 6-30), with 34% classified as abnormal, and the average total score via telehealth was 26 (range: 12-30), with 29% classified as abnormal. Providers reported satisfaction in using the MoCA during routine clinical care, both in-person and via telehealth. Lower MoCA scores correlated with worse symptom severity, KPS, age, education, and previous treatment. Conclusions The MoCA was feasible in clinical and telehealth settings, and its relationship to clinical characteristics and PROs highlight the need for both objective and patient-reported measures of cognition to understand the overall cognitive profile of a patient with a CNS tumor.