Incidence of mental disorders in soldiers deployed to Afghanistan who have or have not experienced a life-threatening military incident—a quasi-experimental cohort study

Abstract

IntroductionThere is very good international research on deployment-related mental disorders in military personnel. The incidence rates show a very wide range. A new strategy is therefore proposed in order to achieve better standardization and thus better comparability of the studies. In addition to a non-deployed comparison group, we propose to compare deployed soldiers with and without critical military incidents during the deployment. This additional distinction makes it possible to differentiate between the influencing variables of actual threat and general deployment stress.MethodsN = 358 male combat soldiers deployed to Afghanistan were included in the study. Clinical interviews were conducted several days before deployment and after deployment. Of them, n = 80 soldiers suffered a life-threatening military incident during deployment, whereas 278 soldiers did not. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated for the groups with and without critical military incidents and the new onset for PTSD, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders.ResultsWhen comparing both groups, we found significantly higher 1-year incidence rates in the group with critical military incidents: 6.4% vs. 1.1% (OR 6.2) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 7.0% vs. 1.1% (OR 6.5) for depression; and 15.9% vs. 2.8% (OR 6.6) for anxiety disorders. The 1-year incidence rate of mental multimorbidity (PTSD with anxiety or depression) was 4.8% vs. 0.4% (OR 12.0).DiscussionThese results indicate that life-threatening military incidents during military deployment are important to mental health. As the different threat levels of the various missions are taken into account, additional predictors could be determined more precisely in further research.

Impact of life-threatening military incidents during deployments abroad on the relationships between military personnel and their families

“…Incidence rates of mental disorders following deployments vary widely. This is attributed to different types of assessment, timing, military population, deployments, country/region, length of deployment, climatic conditions, attitude of the civilian population towards the soldiers, or changing danger situation ( 24 ). In Germany, the incidence for mental disorders after deployments range between 2.3% for PTSD, 2.4% for depression and 5.1% for anxiety disorders ( 24 ).…”

“…A recently published study ( 24 ) proposed comparing military personnel deployed to the same mission, with and without deployment-related life-threatening military incidents. In the group exposed to such incidents, the risk for developing PTSD, depression or anxiety disorders was six to seven times higher.…”