Association of Cardiovascular Risk Factors With Mental Health Diagnoses in Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Using VA Health Care
- Beth E. Cohen, MD, MAS beth.cohen@va.govDepartment of Medicine;
- Charles Marmar, MDDepartment of Psychiatry;
- Li Ren, MSDepartment of Medicine;
- Daniel Bertenthal, MPHHealth Services Research Enhancement Award Program;
- Karen H. Seal, MD, MPHDepartment of MedicineSan Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterSan Francisco, California
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- AFGHAN CAMPAIGN 2001-
- CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
- IRAQ WAR, 2003 -
- MENTAL DISORDERS
- MILITARY PERSONNEL
- RISK FACTORS
- STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC
- VETERANS
- WAR
To the Editor: Studies of veterans from prior wars have found that those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at significantly increased risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease.1,2,3 To our knowledge, cardiovascular disease risk has not been evaluated in veterans from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We examined the association of PTSD and other mental disorders with cardiovascular risk factors using national data from veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) who sought care at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.
Methods
The data source was the VA OEF/OIF Roster, containing demographic and military service information on the 41% of eligible OEF/OIF veterans who have accessed VA health care. The study population consisted of 303 223 veterans who were new users of VA health care from October 7, 2001 (the start of OEF), to September 30, 2008. Data were linked to inpatient …
