Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
N Engl J Med. 2010 Jan 14;362(2):101-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0900177.
Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have involved the frequent and extended deployment of military personnel, many of whom are married. The effect of deployment on mental health in military spouses is largely unstudied.
We examined electronic medical-record data for outpatient care received between 2003 and 2006 by 250,626 wives of active-duty U.S. Army soldiers. After adjustment for the sociodemographic characteristics and the mental health history of the wives, as well as the number of deployments of the personnel, we compared mental health diagnoses according to the number of months of deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Iraq-Kuwait region and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan during the same period.
The deployment of spouses and the length of deployment were associated with mental health diagnoses. In adjusted analyses, as compared with wives of personnel who were not deployed, women whose husbands were deployed for 1 to 11 months received more diagnoses of depressive disorders (27.4 excess cases per 1000 women; 95% confidence interval [CI], 22.4 to 32.3), sleep disorders (11.6 excess cases per 1000; 95% CI, 8.3 to 14.8), anxiety (15.7 excess cases per 1000; 95% CI, 11.8 to 19.6), and acute stress reaction and adjustment disorders (12.0 excess cases per 1000; 95% CI, 8.6 to 15.4). Deployment for more than 11 months was associated with 39.3 excess cases of depressive disorders (95% CI, 33.2 to 45.4), 23.5 excess cases of sleep disorders (95% CI, 19.4 to 27.6), 18.7 excess cases of anxiety (95% CI, 13.9 to 23.5), and 16.4 excess cases of acute stress reaction and adjustment disorders (95% CI, 12.2 to 20.6).
Prolonged deployment was associated with more mental health diagnoses among U.S. Army wives, and these findings may have relevance for prevention and treatment efforts.
在伊拉克和阿富汗的军事行动中，经常需要长时间部署军事人员，其中许多人已婚。军事配偶的部署对其心理健康的影响在很大程度上尚未得到研究。
我们研究了 2003 年至 2006 年间，250626 名现役美国陆军士兵的妻子在门诊接受的电子病历数据。在调整了妻子的社会人口统计学特征和精神健康史以及人员的部署次数后，我们比较了同期在伊拉克自由行动和持久自由行动中在伊拉克-科威特地区和阿富汗部署的人员的妻子的心理健康诊断情况。
配偶的部署和部署时间的长短与心理健康诊断有关。在调整后的分析中，与未部署人员的妻子相比，丈夫部署 1 至 11 个月的女性，其抑郁障碍的诊断人数（每 1000 名妇女增加 27.4 例；95%置信区间 [CI]，22.4 至 32.3）、睡眠障碍（11.6 例；95%CI，8.3 至 14.8）、焦虑（15.7 例；95%CI，11.8 至 19.6）以及急性应激反应和适应障碍（12.0 例；95%CI，8.6 至 15.4）的诊断人数均增加。部署超过 11 个月与抑郁障碍（95%CI，33.2 至 45.4）增加 39.3 例、睡眠障碍（95%CI，19.4 至 27.6）增加 23.5 例、焦虑（95%CI，13.9 至 23.5）增加 18.7 例以及急性应激反应和适应障碍（95%CI，12.2 至 20.6）增加 16.4 例有关。
长期部署与美国陆军妻子的更多心理健康诊断有关，这些发现可能对预防和治疗工作具有重要意义。
