Wooten NR, Brittingham JA, Hossain A, Hopkins LA, Sumi NS, Jeffery DD, Tavakoli AS, Chakraborty H, Levkoff SE, Larson MJ. Army Warrior Care Project (AWCP): Rationale and methods for a longitudinal study of behavioral health care in Army Warrior Transition Units using Military Health System data, FY2008-2015.
Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2019;
28:e1788. [PMID:
31373125 PMCID:
PMC6791723 DOI:
10.1002/mpr.1788]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) are specialized military units co-located with major military treatment facilities providing a Triad of Care involving primary care physicians, case managers, and military leadership to soldiers needing comprehensive medical care. We describe the rationale and methods for studying behavioral health care in WTUs and characterize soldiers assigned to WTUs.
METHODS
The Army Warrior Care Project (AWCP) analyzes U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System data to examine behavioral health problems and service utilization among Army soldiers who were assigned to WTUs after returning from Afghanistan and Iraq deployments, FY2008-2015.
RESULTS
WTU members (N = 31,094) comprised 3.5% of the AWCP cohort (N = 883,091). Almost all (96.5%) had one WTU assignment for a median of 327 days; 77.3% were assigned before deployment ended, ≤30 or >365 days post-deployment; 59.4% had deployment-related behavioral health diagnoses.
CONCLUSIONS
An overwhelming majority of soldiers had one WTU assignment for almost a year. A substantial proportion of WTU soldiers had psychological impairment, which limited performance of their military duties. The AWCP is the first longitudinal study of redeployed soldiers assigned to WTUs and provides a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of behavioral health among soldiers needing comprehensive medical care after combat deployments.
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