Preventive Health Behaviors, Health-Risk Behaviors, Physical Morbidity, and Health-Related Role Functioning Impairment in Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

An examination of the relationships between health behaviors (preventive and risk-related), physician-diagnosed medical problems, role-functioning impairment because of physical morbidity, and post-traumatic stress disorder was conducted on a large cohort of consecutive treatment-seeking cases (N = 826) presenting to an outpatient Veterans Affairs post-traumatic stress disorder clinic. Results revealed that the sample rates of several medical conditions were markedly elevated when compared with general population rates for men of comparable age. The rates of smoking and other behavioral risk variables were greater than rates among men in the general population. Moreover, the majority of the sample did not engage in preventive health behaviors such as exercise and medical screening at levels consistent with health care guidelines. Physical role functioning indices of the SF-36 reveal greater role-functioning impairment because of physical morbidity in this psychiatric sample relative to the age adjusted general population norms. The health care implications of these data are discussed, as are areas for future research.

Prevalence of food insecurity among military households with children 5 years of age and younger

“…Our results contrast Widome et al's findings (15) that found US veterans who smoked were more likely to be food-insecure. Veterans are more likely to report risky health behaviours compared with non-veterans which could also explain the discrepancy; yet since there were so few smokers in the current study, these results should be interpreted with caution (48,49) .…”

Evaluation of smoking characteristics among community-recruited daily smokers with and without posttraumatic stress disorder and panic psychopathology

“…Recent studies have found important linkages between smoking and certain anxiety disorders (Feldner, Babson, & Zvolensky, 2007a;Morissette, Tull, Gulliver, Kamholz, & Zimering, 2007;Patton, Carlin, Coffey, Wolfe, Hibbert, & Bowes, 1998; Zvolensky, Feldner, LeenFeldner, & McLeish, 2005 (Beckham et al, 1995;Breslau et al, 2003;Buckley et al, 2004;Feldner et al, 2007a). Recent controlled work supports the contention that PTSD is associated with earlier relapse compared to persons with no psychopathology (Zvolensky, Gibson et al, in press).…”

“…Other work suggests panic psychopathology is related to decreased success in quitting smoking (Lasser et al, 2000;Zvolensky & Bernstein, 2005;Zvolensky, Lejuez, Kahler, & Brown, 2004). Similarly, smoking rates are significantly greater among persons with, compared to those without, PTSD (Acierno et al, 2000;Acierno, Kilpatrick, Resnick, Saunders, & Best, 1996;Beckham et al, 1995;Buckley, Mozley, Bedard, Dewulf, & Greif, 2004). Investigations also have found that exposure to traumatic life events, particularly for those individuals with a PTSD diagnosis, is associated with an increase in smoking behavior (e.g., increasing the amount of cigarettes smoked per day; Breslau, Davis, & Schultz, 2003;Joseph, Yule, Williams, & Hodgkinson, 1993;Koenen et al, 2005;Perkonigg, Kessler, Storz, & Wittchen, 2000).…”

“…Investigations also have found that exposure to traumatic life events, particularly for those individuals with a PTSD diagnosis, is associated with an increase in smoking behavior (e.g., increasing the amount of cigarettes smoked per day; Breslau, Davis, & Schultz, 2003;Joseph, Yule, Williams, & Hodgkinson, 1993;Koenen et al, 2005;Perkonigg, Kessler, Storz, & Wittchen, 2000). Although less is empirically known about the role of PTSD in cessation success per se, scholars have suggested that this clinical condition may (theoretically) be associated with poor cessation outcome (Beckham et al, 1995;Breslau et al, 2003;Buckley et al, 2004;Feldner et al, 2007a). Recent controlled work supports the contention that PTSD is associated with earlier relapse compared to persons with no psychopathology (Zvolensky, Gibson et al, in press).…”

Mental health diagnoses and utilization of VA non-mental health medical services among returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

“…6 Third, mental disorders and PTSD may cause biological and behavioral changes that increase the risk of physical disease, leading to greater medical utilization. 28 , 29,[12][13][14][30][31][32][33][34] Finally, there may be an increased likelihood of detection of medical problems in veterans with mental health problems, for example, through symptoms identified by mental health providers. Veterans with comorbid mental and physical problems may also be more likely to enroll in primary care, which could lead to increased utilization of other services, such as preventive screening through laboratory and diagnostic tests.…”