Open AccessBehavioral Health Service Use by Military Children During Afghanistan and Iraq Wars
Author(s) -
Nikki R. Wooten,
Jordan Brittingham,
Nahid Sultana Sumi,
Ronald Pitner,
Kendall D. Moore
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of behavioral health services and research/the journal of behavioral health services and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.713
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1556-3308
pISSN - 1094-3412
DOI - 10.1007/s11414-018-09646-0
Subject(s) - software deployment , medicine , health psychology , psychological intervention , public health , mental health , military deployment , odds , odds ratio , military personnel , psychiatry , environmental health , nursing , logistic regression , pathology , computer science , law , political science , operating system
Medical claims were analyzed from 2810 military children who visited a civilian emergency department (ED) or hospital from 2000 to 2014 with behavioral health as the primary diagnosis and TRICARE as the primary/secondary payer. Visit prevalence was estimated annually and categorized: 2000-2002 (pre-deployment), 2003-2008 (first post-deployment), 2009-2014 (second post-deployment). Age was categorized: preschoolers (0-4 years), school-aged (5-11 years), adolescents (12-17 years). During Afghanistan and Iraq wars, 2562 military children received 4607 behavioral health visits. School-aged children's mental health visits increased from 61 to 246 from pre-deployment to the second post-deployment period. Adolescents' substance use disorder (SUD) visits increased almost 5-fold from pre-deployment to the first post-deployment period. Mental disorders had increased odds (OR = 2.93, 95% CI 1.86-4.61) of being treated during hospitalizations than in EDs. Adolescents had increased odds of SUD treatment in EDs (OR = 2.92, 95% CI 1.85-4.60) compared to hospitalizations. Implications for integrated behavioral health and school behavioral health interventions are discussed.