title: Clinical and demographic factors associated with employment status in US military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the association between clinical and demographic factors with employment status in post-deployment US military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  169 OIF/OEF veterans seen at a post-deployment clinic between December of 2009 and May of 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data was collected retrospectively on employment status, age, marital status, gender, pre-deployment education, ratings of sleep disturbance, pain, and depression, and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or PTSD diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Unemployment was highly prevalent in this sample (45%). Of the demographic and clinical factors examined, only a self-report of global depression severity was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of unemployment in multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10-0.47). Age greater than 40 demonstrated a positive association with employment status that was of borderline statistical significance ([OR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-8.1). Prior diagnoses of mTBI or PTSD, and current sleep or pain symptoms, were not associated with employment status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individuals with more severe self-reported depression had a higher prevalence of unemployment. Future prospective studies are needed to better understand which factors determine employment status in returning veterans.
authors.affiliation: Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, Braintree, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sara I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.forename: Melissa M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Amick
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational