دورية أكاديمية

A retrospective cohort study of U.S. service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq: is physical health worsening over time?

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: A retrospective cohort study of U.S. service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq: is physical health worsening over time?
المؤلفون: Falvo, Michael J, Serrador, Jorge M, McAndrew, Lisa M, Chandler, Helena K, Lu, Shou-En, Quigley, Karen S
بيانات النشر: BioMed Central Ltd.
سنة النشر: 2012
المجموعة: BioMed Central
مصطلحات موضوعية: Veterans, Military personnel, Veterans health, Quality of life, Operation enduring freedom, Operation iraqi freedom, Health surveys
الوصف: Background High rates of mental health disorders have been reported in veterans returning from deployment to Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom: OEF) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom: OIF); however, less is known about physical health functioning and its temporal course post-deployment. Therefore, our goal is to study physical health functioning in OEF/OIF veterans after deployment. Methods We analyzed self-reported physical health functioning as physical component summary (PCS) scores on the Veterans version of the Short Form 36 health survey in 679 OEF/OIF veterans clinically evaluated at a post-deployment health clinic. Veterans were stratified into four groups based on time post-deployment: (1Yr) 0 – 365 days; (2Yr) 366 – 730 days; (3Yr) 731 – 1095 days; and (4Yr+) > 1095 days. To assess the possibility that our effect was specific to a treatment-seeking sample, we also analyzed PCS scores from a separate military community sample of 768 OEF/OIF veterans evaluated pre-deployment and up to one-year post-deployment. Results In veterans evaluated at our clinic, we observed significantly lower PCS scores as time post-deployment increased (p = 0.018) after adjusting for probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We similarly observed in our community sample that PCS scores were lower both immediately after and one year after return from deployment (p < 0.001) relative to pre-deployment PCS. Further, PCS scores obtained 1-year post-deployment were significantly lower than scores obtained immediately post-deployment (p = 0.02). Conclusion In our clinical sample, the longer the duration between return from deployment and their visit to our clinic, the worse the Veteran’s physical health even after adjusting for PTSD. Additionally, a decline is also present in a military community sample of OEF/OIF veterans. These data suggest that, as time since deployment length increases, physical health may deteriorate for some veterans.
نوع الوثيقة: article in journal/newspaper
اللغة: English
العلاقة: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/1124Test
الإتاحة: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/1124Test
حقوق: Copyright 2012 Falvo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
رقم الانضمام: edsbas.114307C
قاعدة البيانات: BASE