Mental Health and Obesity Among Veterans: A Possible Need for Integrated Care.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The goal was to examine psychiatric diagnosis rates among a national cohort of primary care patients with and without obesity.

Methods

The cohort was derived from national Veterans Health Administration data (women, N=342,262; men, N=4,524,787). Sex-stratified descriptive statistics characterized psychiatric diagnosis rates. Chi-square tests determined whether diagnosis rates differed by obesity status (α=0.001).

Results

Rates of any psychiatric diagnosis were higher among women than among men and among people with obesity versus without obesity (women, 53.9% vs. 50.4%; men, 37.9% vs. 35.2%). Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis rates were higher for people with obesity, and substance use disorder diagnosis rates were lower for people with

SUBMITTER: Breland JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7780886 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature