Impact of moral injury and posttraumatic stress disorder on health care utilization and suicidality in rural and urban veterans

Abstract

This study explored the impact of moral injury (MI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on health care utilization, mental health complexity, and suicidality in rural and urban veterans. Analyses combined data from the Salt Lake City PTSD Clinic Intake Database and the Department of Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse. Participants (N = 1,545; M age = 45.9 years) were predominately male (88.3%) and White (87.8%). Adjusted analyses indicated associations between a 1-unit increase in Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES) score and increased mental health complexity, RR = 1.

Suicide risk in U.S. adults: Alcohol misuse, veteran status, and urbanization comparison.

“…In both nonveteran and veteran samples, suicide rates are consistently higher in rural areas compared to urban areas (Mohatt et al, 2021; U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2022b), yet it is much less understood why suicide risk in these samples differ (Compton et al, 2021;Murray-Swank et al, 2018). In the limited extant research, internal and external stigma, complex constellations of mental health symptoms, and lack of access to health care and mental health care have been posited as potentially causal, but these and other factors can vary by where the individual lives (Mohatt et al, 2021;Monteith et al, 2020;Murray-Swank et al, 2018;Parry et al, 2023).…”