Background: Opioid misuse and addiction are at epidemic levels in the United States. Postoperative opioid prescription is inconsistent and often excessive, including for cesarean section patients. Technology, such as mobile applications and clinical decision support tools, can be used to decrease opioid use and misuse among patients, and to determine more appropriate prescribing practices for specific procedures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prescription opioid misuse risk is disproportionate among veterans; military veterans wounded in combat misuse prescription opioids at an even higher rate (46.2%). Opioid misuse is costly in terms of morbidity, mortality, and humanitarian and economic burden and costs the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs more than US $1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: This is the first multisite, randomized clinical trial of stellate ganglion block (SGB) outcomes on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
Objective: To determine whether paired SGB treatments at 0 and 2 weeks would result in improvement in mean Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) total symptom severity scores from baseline to 8 weeks.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This multisite, blinded, sham-procedure, randomized clinical trial used a 2:1 SGB:sham ratio and was conducted from May 2016 through March 2018 in 3 US Army Interdisciplinary Pain Management Centers.
This study explored U.S. Air Force service members' perceptions of high-risk situations for sexual assault victimization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: As of 2015, more than 2.7 million US military Veterans have served in support of the Global War on Terror. The negative sequelae associated with deployment stressors and related traumas are well-documented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to the current prolonged conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, members of the United States National Guard and Reserve have shifted from a historically support-based role to an integral segment of combat efforts. Clinical and epidemiological research studies conducted on both civilian and military populations have documented high rates of comorbidity of stress disorders and substance use disorders. It is widely understood that excessive alcohol use is an issue among military personnel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Our previous research has highlighted the important link between coping behaviors and mental health symptoms in military personnel. This study seeks to extend these findings by examining each coping behavior and mental health issue individually. This study has four specific aims: (1) test cross-sectional relationships between coping and mental health at baseline and follow-up, (2) examine stability of each variable over time, (3) determine the predictive nature of baseline mental health and coping on subsequent mental health and coping, (4) assess the magnitude of each effect to evaluate the differential predictive value of coping behaviors and mental health symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMilitary chaplains not only conduct religious services, but also provide counseling and spiritual support to military service members, operating as liaisons between soldiers and mental health professionals. In this study, active-duty soldiers (N = 889) reported help-seeking behaviors and mental health. Using logistic regressions, we describe the issues for which soldiers reported seeking help, then outline the characteristics of those who are most likely to seek help from a chaplain.
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