Association of PTSD and depression with medical and specialist care utilization in modern peacekeeping veterans in Canada with health-related disabilities.
We examined the relative associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression severity with medical and specialist care use in modern peacekeeping veterans with health-related disabilities.
The participants consisted of 1016 male veterans who served in the Canadian Forces from 1990 to 1999, selected from a larger random sample of 1968 veterans who voluntarily completed an anonymous general health survey conducted by Veterans Affairs Canada in 1999. Survey instruments included the PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, and questionnaires of health problems and service use, sociodemographic characteristics, and military history.
Among peacekeeping veterans with health disabilities, "probable" PTSD (PCL-M score > or = 50) was associated with significantly more medical service use (primary and specialty care combined), with a mean of 16.4 times (SD = 17.4) compared with 6.0 times (SD = 6.6), p