Mental health status and visit rates of active duty members and their families: findings from the 1994-1995 Department of Defense Health Beneficiary Survey.
Determining whether there is evidence of underutilization of outpatient mental health care by Department of Defense (DoD) beneficiaries relative to the general population is the purpose of this study. It analyzes data from the 1994-1995 DoD Health Beneficiary Survey and compares the mental health status and usage rates of active duty members and their families with benchmark levels found in the general population. Although the mental health status for the DoD beneficiary population was found to be generally the same as that of the general U.S. population within gender categories, gender-specific usage rates of mental health services of DoD beneficiaries in the groups examined were well below rates recorded for the general population. The concept of psychological readiness is also introduced. Several recommendations for increasing access to mental health care are presented.
Institute for Health Services Research, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455-0381, USA.
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Constantian
D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States