VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on TBI, infection control, and massage therapy

This week, VA’s Office of Research and Development published three News Briefs highlighting research findings on TBI and suicide risk, telehealth and rural infection control, and the benefits of massage therapy.

12 years later, TBI still increases suicide risk

The VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC’s Post-Deployment Mental Health study found that Veterans with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) continued to report high levels of suicidal thoughts and behaviors even 12 years after service. Beginning in 2005, the study followed more than 800 Veterans to understand their post-deployment health, with follow-up continuing to the present. When first assessed, nearly 20% of Veterans reporting a TBI also reported suicidal thoughts and behaviors, compared to roughly 11% of those without a TBI. In the same group 12 years later, the Veterans with TBI reported suicidal thoughts and behaviors rose slightly to just over 20% while those without a TBI fell to about nine percent. The findings remained after factoring for depression, PTSD and lifetime trauma. The researchers stress the need to continue assessing suicidal thoughts and behaviors for Veterans with a history of TBI. (Psychiatry Research, September 2025)

Telehealth improves infection control in rural areas

More than 90% of rural health care professionals reported that VA’s Video-conference Antimicrobial Stewardship Team (VAST) improved Veteran Care quality. VAST connects rural medical centers with infectious disease experts to improve antibiotic use for Veterans. Additionally, all the interviewees recognized the program as meeting a critical need and facilitating collaboration for rural settings. Researchers from a VA national research team also reviewed more than 600 telehealth consultations for 500 Veterans from September 2021 to February 2024 in a range of cases from pneumonia to urinary tract infections. They found antimicrobial stewardship was a resource-intensive process requiring an infectious disease-trained physician, clinical pharmacists, microbiologists, information system specialists, infection preventionists and hospital epidemiologists who are often beyond what rural hospitals have to offer. By offering VAST’s expertise to rural hospitals via VA’s robust videoconferencing network, Veterans can receive high quality care wherever they live. (Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Aug. 11, 2025)

Massage therapy can provide lasting results

Getting a massage is a common practice for temporary pain relief, but researchers from Richard Roudebush VA and Indiana University found that massage therapy could significantly reduce neck pain severity for up to six months after treatment. Researchers randomly assigned 290 Veterans to either a waitlist control group or a therapeutic massage group who received hourlong professional therapeutic massages twice weekly over the course of three months. The researchers measured neck disability and pain for one, three and six months after completion, and found that the Veterans who received therapeutic massage still had their neck disability pain scores reduced by three points after three months, and then by one point after six months. The findings suggest that massage therapy is a practical, non-pharmacological approach to pain management, but there may be a need for ongoing efforts to maintain lowered pain scores. (Pain Medicine, Aug. 28, 2025)

For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit ORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.