The Epidemiology of Mental Disorders in the U.S. Navy: The Psychoses

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive overview of psychosis in U.S. Navy enlisted personnel. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine first hospitalization incidence rates of psychosis in an initially healthy young adult population; (2) determine institutional and personal costs in terms of interruption of military careers and premature manpower losses; (3) determine the age at onset (first hospitalization) and the duration of acute illness; and (4) to evaluate the effects of age, gender, race, and education on disease onset and outcome. The sample included all first hospitalizations for psychosis of active-duty enlisted persons during the period 1980 to 1988. All information used in this study was from official personnel and medical records. Patients' service and medical histories were tracked through 1992 to provide at least 4 years of follow-up data. Incidence rates varied greatly over time and across gender, age, race, and diagnostic groups. A large increase in the rate of affective psychosis for women was in sharp contrast to marked declines in rates for drug psychoses, schizophrenia, and other inorganic psychoses and to the relatively stable rates for alcohol psychoses and paranoid states. Psychoses had a very significant negative impact on naval careers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA349419

Entities

People

  • E. K.Eric Gunderson
  • L. L. Hourani

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Drug Abuse
  • Education
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Health Services
  • Hospitalizations
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Disorders
  • Military Personnel
  • Patient Care
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychotic Disorders
  • Schizophrenia

Fields of Study

  • Medicine
  • Psychology

Readers

  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.