Behavioral Health Service Use by Military Children During Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Medical claims were analyzed from 2810 military children who visited a civilian emergency department (ED) or hospital from 2000 to 2014 with behavioral health as the primary diagnosis and TRICARE as the primary/secondary payer. Visit prevalence was estimated annually and categorized: 2000–2002 (pre-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of behavioral health services & research 2019-10, Vol.46 (4), p.549-569
Main Authors: Wooten, Nikki R., Brittingham, Jordan A., Sumi, Nahid S., Pitner, Ronald O., Moore, Kendall D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Child & adolescent mental health
Children
Children & youth
Community and Environmental Psychology
Deployment
Emergency medical services
Emergency services
Health behavior
Health Informatics
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Health Psychology
Health services
Health services utilization
Help seeking behavior
Medical diagnosis
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Mental health
Military
Military deployment
Preschool children
Psychiatry
Public Health
Substance use
Substance use disorder
Teenagers
Visits
War
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Summary:Medical claims were analyzed from 2810 military children who visited a civilian emergency department (ED) or hospital from 2000 to 2014 with behavioral health as the primary diagnosis and TRICARE as the primary/secondary payer. Visit prevalence was estimated annually and categorized: 2000–2002 (pre-deployment), 2003–2008 (first post-deployment), 2009–2014 (second post-deployment). Age was categorized: preschoolers (0–4 years), school-aged (5–11 years), adolescents (12–17 years). During Afghanistan and Iraq wars, 2562 military children received 4607 behavioral health visits. School-aged children’s mental health visits increased from 61 to 246 from pre-deployment to the second post-deployment period. Adolescents’ substance use disorder (SUD) visits increased almost 5-fold from pre-deployment to the first post-deployment period. Mental disorders had increased odds (OR = 2.93, 95% CI 1.86–4.61) of being treated during hospitalizations than in EDs. Adolescents had increased odds of SUD treatment in EDs (OR = 2.92, 95% CI 1.85–4.60) compared to hospitalizations. Implications for integrated behavioral health and school behavioral health interventions are discussed.
ISSN:1094-3412
1556-3308
DOI:10.1007/s11414-018-09646-0