Citation

Mayo JA, MacGregor AJ, Dougherty AL, Galarneau MR. Mil. Med. 2013; 178(9): 945-950.

Affiliation

Naval Health Research Center, 140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA 92106.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)

DOI

10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00527

PMID

24005541

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of military occupation on new-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among U.S. combat veterans recently returned from deployment to Iraq. Enlisted, active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel without a history of mental disorder were identified from deployment records and linked to medical databases (n = 40,600). Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between occupation and postdeployment PTSD and depression diagnoses by branch of service. Navy health care specialists had higher odds of new-onset PTSD (odds ratio [OR] 4.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.58-7.94) and depression (OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.53-4.34) compared with Navy functional support/other personnel. In addition, Marine combat specialists had higher odds of new-onset PTSD (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.48-2.47) and depression (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.10-1.68) compared with Marine functional support/other personnel. Occupation is associated with the development of new-onset PTSD and depression. The high rates of PTSD and depression among health care specialists warrant further investigation into the potential effects of caregiver stress on mental health.

Language: en