Medical care needs of returning veterans with PTSD: their other burden.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There has been considerable focus on the burden of mental illness (including post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD) in returning Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans, but little attention to the burden of medical illness in those with PTSD.

Objectives

(1) Determine whether the burden of medical illness is higher in women and men OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD than in those with No Mental Health Conditions (MHC). (2) Identify conditions common in those with PTSD.

Design

Cross-sectional study using existing databases (Fiscal Year 2006-2007).

Setting

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients nationally.

Patients

All 90,558 OEF/OIF veterans using VHA outpatient care nationally, categorized into strata: PTSD, Stress-

SUBMITTER: Frayne SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3024098 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature