title: A retrospective study of anxiety disorder diagnoses in the military from 2000 to 2009.
abstract: The objective of this study was to describe trends in the diagnostic rates for anxiety disorders (ADs) types in the U.S. military from 2000 to 2009. Data for the numbers of diagnosed cases for the first documented occurrence of ADs during ambulatory visits while serving in the military were obtained from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database for all active duty service members and examined across branch of service and by gender. Results indicate that Anxiety Not Otherwise Specified (ANOS) was the most frequently diagnosed AD type in each of the 10 years between 2000 and 2009, with an average rate of 0.8 per 100 service members for first service occurrence, followed by PTSD at a rate of 0.5 out of every 100. Starting in 2002, the yearly first occurrence rates of ANOS and PTSD were significantly higher (p<0.001) compared to each proceeding year, with the same pattern present among males and females separately. The majority of first occurrence AD diagnoses were diagnosed in the Army (47% of Anxiety NOS and 60% of PTSD cases) compared to the other service branches (i.e., Navy, Air Force, and Marines).
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA 01760, USA. meghan.lovering@us.army.mil
authors.forename: Meghan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Lovering
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Proctor
authors.forename: Kristin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Heaton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States