title: Prevalence of DSM-IV major depression among U.S. military personnel: meta-analysis and simulation.
abstract: A meta-analysis of 25 epidemiological studies estimated the prevalence of recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) major depression (MD) among U.S. military personnel. Best estimates of recent prevalence (standard error) were 12.0% (1.2) among currently deployed, 13.1% (1.8) among previously deployed, and 5.7% (1.2) among never deployed. Consistent correlates of prevalence were being female, enlisted, young (ages 17-25), unmarried, and having less than a college education. Simulation of data from a national general population survey was used to estimate expected lifetime prevalence of MD among respondents with the sociodemographic profile and none of the enlistment exclusions of Army personnel. In this Simulated sample, 16.2% (3.1) of respondents had lifetime MD and 69.7% (8.5) of first onsets occurred before expected age of enlistment. Numerous methodological problems limit the results of the meta-analysis and simulation. The article closes with a discussion of recommendations for correcting these problems in future surveillance and operational stress studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gadermann
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Naifeh
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nock
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petukhova
authors.forename: Patcho N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
mesh_terms: D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology