Sayer Nina A, Spoont Michele, Nelson David B, Clothier Barb, Murdoch Maureen
Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA.
J Trauma Stress. 2008 Feb;21(1):40-8. doi: 10.1002/jts.20309.
This study examined changes in psychiatric status and use of VA mental health services after the adjudication of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of 101 veteran claimants. Hypotheses were based on the premise that the claims process may create incentives for veterans to demonstrate illness. After the PTSD claim determination, half the sample had filed or planned to file a claim for a rating increase or an appeal and thus remained compensation seeking. Contradicting the authors' hypotheses, psychiatric status did not improve and treatment drop-out rates did not increase among veterans who were no longer compensation seeking after the claim determination. Results have implications for the design and direction of future research.
本研究调查了101名退伍军人索赔者样本中，美国退伍军人事务部（VA）对创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）残疾索赔进行裁决后，其精神状态的变化以及VA心理健康服务的使用情况。研究假设基于这样一个前提，即索赔过程可能会促使退伍军人表现出患病症状。在确定PTSD索赔后，样本中有一半已经提交或计划提交提高评级的索赔或上诉，因此仍在寻求赔偿。与作者的假设相反，在索赔确定后不再寻求赔偿的退伍军人中，精神状态并未改善，治疗退出率也未增加。研究结果对未来研究的设计和方向具有启示意义。
