Untitled

Abstract

Objective: Military sponsored personnel deploying to combat theaters undergo medical and behavioral health screening prior to deployment, ensuring a healthy fighting force is deployed. Methods:Retrospective review of combat theater deployed personnel presenting in theater for mental health treatment were screened for the presence theater limiting mental health conditions that were present prior to combat deployment. Rates were retrospectively established for patients who could be treated in theater (N=511) compared to those that necessitated theater medical evacuation (N=123) due to psychiatric decompensation.Findings: 50.1 percent of those medically evacuated had a previously identified theater limiting mental health condition, statistically different than those with a newly identified mental health condition treated in theater (P<.0001). Those with retrospectively determined medical screening failures were 52 times more likely to evacuated (OR 52.61, 95% CI 25-108) than those without. This study demonstrates potential support of the utilization of existing pre-deployment medical screening procedures.