title: Trauma exposure, branch of service, and physical injury in relation to mental health among U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
abstract: Significant mental health symptoms are reported in troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (OEF/OIF). Symptomatic troops are more likely to be discharged and become eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) care. Prevalence and predictors of mental health symptoms were assessed in 339 OEF/OIF veterans and reservists registering at the San Diego DVA. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom frequency and severity, depression, and substance and alcohol abuse. A minority of participants (36%) did not screen positive for mental health symptoms; the remainder met threshold for caseness of PTSD, depression, or substance and alcohol abuse. Using a hierarchical logistic regression model, gender, age, race, and rank were not significantly related to PTSD caseness, whereas most recent branch of service and report of injury during combat were. Follow-up analyses revealed that trauma history and combat exposure varied by branch of service. Knowledge of base rates and vulnerability factors can aid in rapid detection of "at risk" individuals.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, 9500 Gilman Dr., MC 0603 La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA.
authors.forename: Dewleen G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heppner
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afari
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nunnink
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kilmer
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bosse
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D000346:Afghanistan; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008889:Military Personnel; D008890:Military Psychiatry; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications*