Deployment to a combat zone and other risk factors for mental health-related disability discharge from the U.S. Army: 1994-2007

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole S. Bell ◽  
Phillip R.Hunt ◽  
Thomas C. Harford ◽  
Ashley Kay
2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory L. Carter ◽  
Cathy Issakidis ◽  
Kerrie Clover

Objective: This study (i) explores differences between a clinical sample of deliberate selfpoisoning (DSP) patients and a community sample who reported previous attempted suicide (AS); and (ii) examines correlates of suicidal behaviour in these groups compared with a community control group (CC) with no suicidal behaviour. Method: The study design was: case–case, case–control and cross-sectional population studies. A clinical sample of DSP (n = 51), a community sample of AS (n = 31) and a community sample with no suicidal behaviour (n = 842) were used, all aged 18–24 years. The DSP and AS groups were compared on several variables and two logistic regression models were developed for risk of (i) DSP and (ii) AS compared to community controls. Results: The adjusted odds ratios for DSP were: female gender (OR = 5.7, CI = 1.7–19.4), anxiety (OR = 7.4, CI = 2.2–25.1), affective (OR = 23.0, CI = 6.9–76.5), or substance-use disorder (OR = 19.2, CI = 5.6–65.4) and greater mental health related disability (OR = 0.5, CI = 0.3–0.7 for 1 SD decrease). For AS the results were: anxiety (OR = 9.4, CI = 1.7–52.8) or substance-use disorder (OR = 3.0, CI = 1.1–8.7) and greater mental health disability (OR = 0.5, CI = 0.4–0.7). Affective disorder was close to significant for the AS group (OR = 4.0, CI = 0.9–17.1). Conclusions: Correlates of DSP/AS were usually more powerful in the clinical group, but showed a similar pattern of psychiatric disorder and disability factors in both groups, supporting a continuum of risk factors across these groups. Interventions based on modifiable risk factors could target the same factors for public health, primary care or hospital populations: anxiety, depression and substance use disorders and mental health related disability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinglan Ding ◽  
Daisy Massey ◽  
Chenxi Huang ◽  
Connor Grady ◽  
Yuan Lu ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Harnessing health-related data posted on social media in real-time has the potential to offer insights into how the pandemic impacts the mental health and general well-being of individuals and populations over time. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to obtain information on symptoms and medical conditions self-reported by non-Twitter social media users during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and to determine how discussion of these symptoms and medical conditions on social media changed over time. METHODS We used natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to identify symptom and medical condition topics being discussed on social media between June 14 and December 13, 2020. The sample social media posts were geotagged by NetBase, a third-party data provider. We calculated the positive predictive value and sensitivity to validate the classification of the posts. We also assessed the frequency of different health-related discussions on social media over time during the study period, and compared the changes in the frequency of each symptom/medical condition discussion to the fluctuation of U.S. daily new COVID-19 cases during the study period. Additionally, we compared the trends of the 5 most commonly mentioned symptoms and medical conditions from June 14 to August 31 (when the U.S. passed 6 million COVID-19 cases) to the trends observed from September 1 to December 13, 2020. RESULTS Within a total of 9,807,813 posts (nearly 70% were sourced from the U.S.), we identified discussion of 120 symptom topics and 1,542 medical condition topics. Our classification of the health-related posts had a positive predictive value of over 80% and an average classification rate of 92% sensitivity. The 5 most commonly mentioned symptoms on social media during the study period were: anxiety (in 201,303 posts or 12.2% of the total posts mentioning symptoms), generalized pain (189,673, 11.5%), weight loss (95,793, 5.8%), fatigue (91,252, 5.5%), and coughing (86,235, 5.2%). The 5 most discussed medical conditions were: COVID-19 (in 5,420,276 posts or 66.4% of the total posts mentioning medical conditions), unspecified infectious disease (469,356, 5.8%), influenza (270,166, 3.3%), unspecified disorders of the central nervous system (253,407, 3.1%), and depression (151,752, 1.9%). The changes in the frequency of 2 medical conditions, COVID-19 and unspecified infectious disease, were similar to the fluctuation of daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 and symptoms of anxiety were the two most commonly discussed health-related topics on social media from June 14 to December 13, 2020. Real-time monitoring of social media posts on symptoms and medical conditions may help assess the population's mental health status and enhance public health surveillance for infectious disease.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052091258
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Brownridge ◽  
Tamara Taillieu ◽  
Marcelo L. Urquia ◽  
Alexandra Lysova ◽  
Ko Ling Chan ◽  
...  

This study examined the elevated risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) among persons with mental health-related disabilities (MH-RD) and the extent to which known risk factors accounted for this phenomenon. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of 33,127 Canadians collected in 2014 as part of Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey. Results showed that respondents with MH-RD had more than three-fold increased odds of both overall and severe IPV victimization. Although females were more likely to possess a MH-RD, males and females with MH-RD reported similarly elevated odds of IPV victimization. Risk factors that contributed to a significant reduction in elevated odds of IPV for respondents with MH-RD were child maltreatment (CM), respondents’ nonprescription drug abuse, and perpetrators’ jealous, monitoring, and socially isolating behaviors. The inability to test additional risk factors and bidirectionality in the relationship between MH-RD and IPV may have contributed to the failure to fully account for these respondents’ elevated odds of IPV. Future research is needed to understand the complex mechanisms contributing to the elevated risk of IPV and enhance prevention and intervention strategies for this underresearched and underserved vulnerable population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S515-S516
Author(s):  
Lan Doan ◽  
Yumie Takata ◽  
Karen Hooker ◽  
Carolyn Mendez-Luck ◽  
and Veronica L Irvin

Abstract Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for Asian American (AA), Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (NHPI) older adults, and AAs/NHPIs have not enjoyed decreases in CVD mortality rates, as have non-Hispanic whites (NHWs). Heterogeneity exists in the prevalence of traditional CVD risk factors for AAs/NHPIs. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) reflect physical and mental burdens beyond clinical burdens, which may help explain discrepant CVD rates and risk factors in AAs/NHPIs. We examined HRQOL among NHW and AA/NHPI Medicare Advantage enrollees with and without a CVD (i.e., coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke) using the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey. The sample included 655,914 older adults who were 65 years or older, self-reported as AA/NHPI or NHW, and were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans in 2011-2015. HRQOL was measured using the Veterans RAND 12-item survey and is composed of a physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS), where higher scores reflect better physical and mental health, respectively. Multivariable linear regression was used to explore HRQOL and CVD prevalence. Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Other Asian, and NHPI subgroups had lower overall PCS, and all AA/NHPI subgroups had lower overall MCS, compared to NHWs. Among those reporting having any CVD, PCS varied by CVD outcomes and subgroups, whereas MCS was lower for all CVD outcomes and for all but one AA/NHPI subgroups (Japanese), compared to NHWs. Attention to mental health for AA/NHPI older adults could be important for the equitable realization of healthy aging.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyu Cui ◽  
Jingwei Lu ◽  
Yijia Weng ◽  
Grace Y. Yi ◽  
Wenqing He

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant influence on the public mental health in a stealthy manner. Current efforts focus on alleviating the impacts of the disease on public health and economy, with the psychological effects due to COVID-19 largely ignored. In this paper, we analyze a mental health related dataset from the US to enhance our understanding of human reactions to the pandemic. We are particularly interested in providing quantitative characterization of the pandemic impact on the public mental health, on top of qualitative explorations. We employ the multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE) method to deal with missing values and take the logistic regression with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) method to identify risk factors for mental health. The analyses are conducted to a large scale of online survey data from 12 consecutive weeks, so that the longitudinal trend of the risk factors can be investigated. Our analysis results unveil evidence-based findings to identify the groups who are psychologically vulnerable to COVID-19. This study is useful to assist healthcare providers and policy makers to take steps for mitigating the pandemic effects on public mental health.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Miconi ◽  
Zhi Yin Li ◽  
Rochelle L. Frounfelker ◽  
Tara Santavicca ◽  
Jude Mary Cénat ◽  
...  

Background Although social and structural inequalities associated with COVID-19 have been documented since the start of the pandemic, few studies have explored the association between pandemic-specific risk factors and the mental health of minority populations. Aims We investigated the association of exposure to the virus, COVID-19-related discrimination and stigma with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a culturally diverse sample of adults in Quebec (Canada). Method A total of 3273 residents of the province of Quebec (49% aged 18–39 years, 57% women, 51% belonging to a minority ethno-cultural group) completed an online survey. We used linear and ordinal logistic regression to identify the relationship between COVID-19 experiences and mental health, and the moderating role of ethno-cultural identity. Results Mental health varied significantly based on socioeconomic status and ethno-cultural group, with those with lower incomes and Arab participants reporting higher psychological distress. Exposure to the virus, COVID-19-related discrimination, and stigma were associated with poorer mental health. Associations with mental health varied across ethno-cultural groups, with exposed and discriminated Black participants reporting higher mental distress. Conclusions Findings indicate sociocultural inequalities in mental health related to COVID-19 in the Canadian context. COVID-19-related risk factors, including exposure, discrimination and stigma, jeopardise mental health. This burden is most noteworthy for the Black community. There is an urgent need for public health authorities and health professionals to advocate against the discrimination of racialised minorities, and ensure that mental health services are accessible and culturally sensitive during and in the aftermath of the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Yunjie Luo ◽  
Yoko Sato

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected individuals’ physical and mental health, including that of immigrant women. This study aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), identify the demographic factors and awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to physical and mental health, and examine the risk factors associated with poor physical and mental health of Chinese women in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Using an electronic questionnaire survey, we collected data including items on HRQoL, awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic, and demographic factors. One hundred and ninety-three participants were analyzed. Approximately 98.9% of them thought that COVID-19 affected their daily lives, and 97.4% had COVID-19 concerns. Married status (OR = 2.88, 95%CI [1.07, 7.72], p = 0.036), high concerns (OR = 3.99, 95%CI [1.46, 10.94], p = 0.007), and no concerns (OR = 8.75, 95%CI [1.17, 65.52], p = 0.035) about the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly associated with poor physical health. Unmarried status (OR = 2.83, 95%CI [1.20, 6.70], p = 0.018) and high COVID-19 concerns (OR = 2.17, 95%CI [1.04, 4.56], p = 0.040) were significantly associated with poor mental health. It is necessary to provide effective social support for Chinese women in Japan to improve their well-being, especially in terms of mental health.


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