Describing the profile of a population of UK veterans seeking support for mental health difficulties
Describing the profile of a population of UK veterans seeking support for mental health difficulties
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DOI：
10.1080/09638237.2017.1385739
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发表时间：
2019-11-02
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Busuttil, Walter
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Murphy, Dominic;Ashwick, Rachel;Busuttil, Walter
背景：有证据表明，有心理健康问题的退伍军人的治疗效果比平民同行差。了解退伍军人面临的困难有助于集中治疗并改善结果。目的：调查寻求治疗的退伍军人的代表性样本，以探讨他们的心理健康需求。方法：随机抽取曾参与英国国家心理健康慈善机构的英国退伍军人样本。个人完成了有关他们的健康、军事经历和入伍前脆弱性的调查问卷。结果：六百名参与者中有四百零三名 (67.2%) 返回了完整的调查问卷。创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 是最常见的心理健康问题 (82%)，其次是愤怒问题 (74%)、常见的心理健康问题 (72%) 和酗酒问题 (43%)。合并症很常见； 32% 的 PTSD 患者符合其他三项健康结果的标准，而只有 5% 的 PTSD 患者符合标准。结论：结果表明寻求治疗的退伍军人的表现非常复杂。这些困难可能部分解释了退伍军人与普通公众相比治疗结果较差的原因。因此，针对有心理健康问题的退伍军人的干预措施应谨慎行事，试图解决该人群面临的一系列问题，而不是集中于某个特定的问题。
Background: Evidence suggests that veterans with mental health issues have poorer treatment outcomes than civilian counterparts. Understanding the difficulties faced by veterans could help focus treatments and improve outcomes. Aims: To survey a representative sample of treatment-seeking veterans to explore their mental health needs. Methods: A random sample of UK veterans who had engaged with a national mental health charity in the UK was drawn. Individuals completed questionnaires about their health, military experiences and pre-enlistment vulnerabilities. Results: Four hundred and three out of six hundred (67.2%) participants returned completed questionnaires. PTSD was the most commonly endorsed mental health difficulty (82%), followed by problems with anger (74%), common mental health difficulties (72%) and alcohol misuse (43%). Comorbidity was frequent; with 32% of those with PTSD meeting criteria for three other health outcomes versus only 5% with PTSD alone. Conclusions: Results indicate the complexity of presentations within treatment seeking veterans. These difficulties may partly explain the poorer treatment outcomes reported in veterans in comparison to the general public. As such, it would be prudent for interventions targeted at veterans with mental health difficulties to attempt to address the range of issues faced by this population rather than focus on a particular presenting problem.