Background: Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) are at increased risk for alcohol misuse, and innovative methods are needed to improve their access to alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBI). This study adapted an electronic SBI (e-SBI) website shown to be efficacious in college students for OEF/OIF veterans and reported findings from interviews with OEF/OIF veterans about their impressions of the e-SBI.
Methods: Outpatient veterans of OEF/OIF who drank ≥3 days in the past week were recruited from a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Deployment Health Clinic waiting room. Veterans privately pretested the anonymous e-SBI then completed individual semistructured audio-recorded interviews. Their responses were analyzed using template analysis to explore domains identified a priori as well as emergent domains.
Results: During interviews, all nine OEF/OIF veterans (1 woman and 8 men) indicated they had received feedback for risky alcohol consumption. Participants generally liked the standard-drinks image, alcohol-related caloric and monetary feedback, and the website's brevity and anonymity (a priori domains). They also experienced challenges with portions of the e-SBI assessment and viewed feedback regarding alcohol risk and normative drinking as problematic, but described potential benefits derived from the e-SBI (emergent domains). The most appealing e-SBIs would ensure anonymity and provide personalized transparent feedback about alcohol-related risk, consideration of the context for drinking, strategies to reduce drinking, and additional resources for veterans with more severe alcohol misuse.
Conclusions: Results of this qualitative exploratory study suggest e-SBI may be an acceptable strategy for increasing OEF/OIF veteran access to evidenced-based alcohol SBI.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1940-0640-7-17 | DOI Listing |
Mil Med
January 2025
VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
Background: Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), also known as "service connection," have been shown to reduce homelessness and poverty, increase mental health engagement, and improve clinical outcomes. However, gender and race disparities in PTSD service connection have been described in Vietnam and post-Vietnam era Veterans.
Methods: Post-traumatic stress disorder service connection outcomes were assessed in a nationally representative, randomly selected, gender-stratified, prospective panel of 960 Veterans who served during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn.
Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci
November 2024
VA Center for Clinical Management Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Aims: Epidemiological studies show that despite the episodic nature, the long-term trajectory of depression can be variable. This study evaluated the heterogeneity of 10-year trajectory of major depressive disorder (MDD) related service utilization and associated clinical characteristics among US Veterans with a first diagnosis after 9/11.
Methods: Using a cohort design, electronic health record data for 293,265 Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans were extracted to identify those with MDD between 2001 and 2021 with a full preceding year of clinical data and 10 years following the diagnosis.
Occup Environ Med
October 2024
Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ann Epidemiol
November 2024
Deployment Health Research Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
Purpose: The goal of this study was to estimate all-cause mortality among Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn era service members and veterans and to identify protective and risk factors for mortality.
Methods: Using 20 years of longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study (2001-2021), sequential Cox proportional hazard models were conducted to examine demographic, military, and health-related characteristics associated with all-cause mortality among service members and veterans.
Results: Among 201,619 participants, 3806 (1.
Front Neurol
May 2024
Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Somerville, MA, United States.
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