Betancourt Jose A, Dolezel Diane M, Shanmugam Ramalingam, Pacheco Gerardo J, Stigler Granados Paula, Fulton Lawrence V
School of Health Administration, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.
Department of Health Information Management, Texas State University, Round Rock, TX 78665, USA.
Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jul 17;11(14):2049. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11142049.
Chronic diseases affect a disproportionate number of United States (US) veterans, causing significant long-term health issues and affecting entitlement spending. This longitudinal study examined the health status of US veterans as compared to non-veterans pre- and post-COVID-19, utilizing the annual Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS) survey data. Age-adjusted descriptive point estimates were generated independently for 2003 through 2021, while complex weighted panel data were generated from 2011 and onward. General linear modeling revealed that the average US veteran reports a higher prevalence of disease conditions except for mental health disorders when compared to a non-veteran. These findings were consistent with both pre- and post-COVID-19; however, both groups reported a higher prevalence of mental health issues during the pandemic years. The findings suggest that there have been no improvements in reducing veteran comorbidities to non-veteran levels and that COVID-19 adversely affected the mental health of both populations.
慢性病对美国退伍军人的影响比例过高，造成了严重的长期健康问题，并影响了福利支出。这项纵向研究利用美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）的年度行为风险因素监测系统（BRFSS）调查数据，对比了新冠疫情前后美国退伍军人与非退伍军人的健康状况。对2003年至2021年的数据独立生成了年龄调整后的描述性点估计值，而复杂加权面板数据则从2011年及以后生成。一般线性模型显示，与非退伍军人相比，美国退伍军人报告的疾病患病率更高，但心理健康障碍除外。这些发现在新冠疫情前后都是一致的；然而，在疫情期间，两组报告的心理健康问题患病率都更高。研究结果表明，在将退伍军人的合并症降低到非退伍军人水平方面没有取得任何进展，而且新冠疫情对这两个人群的心理健康都产生了不利影响。
