Department of Medical Modeling, Simulation, and Mission Support, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92106, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2012 Mar;102 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S55-9. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300341.
We investigated the association of the length of time spent at home between deployments, or dwell time, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disorders.
We included US Marine Corps personnel identified from military deployment records who deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom once (n = 49,328) or twice (n = 16,376). New-onset mental health diagnoses from military medical databases were included. We calculated the ratio of dwell-to-deployment time (DDR) as the length of time between deployments divided by the length of the first deployment.
Marines with 2 deployments had higher rates of PTSD than did those with 1 deployment (2.1% versus 1.2%; P < .001). A DDR representing longer dwell times at home relative to first deployment length was associated with reduced odds of PTSD (odds ratio [OR] = 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.32, 0.70), PTSD with other mental health disorder (OR = 0.56; 95% CI = 0.33, 0.94), and other mental health disorders (OR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.51, 0.75).
Longer dwell times may reduce postdeployment risk of PTSD and other mental health disorders. Future research should focus on the role of dwell time in adverse health outcomes.
我们研究了部署期间（或驻留时间）在家中停留时间的长短与创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和其他心理健康障碍之间的关系。
我们纳入了从军事部署记录中确定的曾参加过伊拉克自由行动的美国海军陆战队人员，其中单次部署（n=49328）和两次部署（n=16376）的人员。纳入了来自军事医疗数据库的新发精神健康诊断。我们计算了驻留与部署时间的比值（DDR），即两次部署之间的时间长度除以第一次部署的长度。
与单次部署的海军陆战队员相比，两次部署的海军陆战队员 PTSD 发生率更高（2.1%比 1.2%；P<0.001）。与第一次部署长度相比，驻留时间较长的 DDR 与 PTSD 发生几率降低相关（比值比[OR] = 0.47；95%置信区间[CI] = 0.32，0.70），PTSD 与其他心理健康障碍（OR = 0.56；95% CI = 0.33，0.94），以及其他心理健康障碍（OR = 0.62；95% CI = 0.51，0.75）。
较长的驻留时间可能会降低部署后 PTSD 和其他心理健康障碍的风险。未来的研究应重点关注驻留时间对不良健康结果的作用。
