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To the Editor: Dr Hoge and colleagues¹ have drawn attention to the potential struggles faced by US military personnel currently returning from war. We are concerned, however, that the data in this article will be erroneously interpreted as evidence for an epidemic of postdeployment psychiatric problems. The findings are actually reassuring with respect to psychiatric morbidity in the US military.

For example, the study reported that 1214 (0.5%) of 222 620 individuals serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) were hospitalized for a mental disorder in the first year after deployment. This is a remarkably low prevalence, given that in peacetime approximately 1.4% of newly recruited personnel are hospitalized with a psychiatric diagnosis during their first year of service.² Although this difference may not be statistically significant, it is possible that the 1-year likelihood of a recruit incurring a psychiatric hospitalization during peacetime is greater than the likelihood of a service member . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Gerald E. Larson, PhD
larson@nhrc.navy.mil

Stephanie Booth-Kewley, PhD; Robyn M. Highfill-McRoy, MA
Behavioral Science and Epidemiology Program
Naval Health Research Center
San Diego, Calif

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