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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.155432v1 100/1/90    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wells, T. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wells, T. S. Related Collections Epidemiology Mental Health Occupational Health Surveys

Timothy S. Wells, DVM, PhD, MPH, Cynthia A. LeardMann, MPH, Sarah O. Fortuna, MD, Besa Smith, PhD, MPH, Tyler C. Smith, PhD, MS, Margaret A. K. Ryan, MD, MPH, Edward J. Boyko, MD, MPH, Dan Blazer, MD, PhD and for the Millennium Cohort Study Team

Timothy S. Wells and Sarah O. Fortuna are with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Cynthia A. LeardMann, Besa Smith, Tyler C. Smith, and Margaret A. K. Ryan are with the Department of Defense Center for Deployment Health Research, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA. Edward J. Boyko is with the Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA. Dan Blazer is with Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Timothy S. Wells, 711th HPW/RHPA, Building 824 Room 206, 2800 Q St, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7947 (e-mail: timothy.wells{at}wpafb.af.mil). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objective. We investigated relations between deployment and new-onset depression among US service members recently deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods. We included 40 219 Millennium Cohort Study participants who completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires and met inclusion criteria. Participants were identified with depression if they met the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Health Questionnaire criteria for depression at follow-up, but not at baseline.

Results. Deployed men and women with combat exposures had the highest onset of depression, followed by those not deployed and those deployed without combat exposures. Combat-deployed men and women were at increased risk for new-onset depression compared with nondeployed men and women (men: adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13, 1.54; women: AOR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.70, 2.65). Conversely, deployment without combat exposures led to decreased risk for new-onset depression compared with those who did not deploy (men: AOR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.83; women: AOR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.47, 0.89).

Conclusions. Deployment with combat exposures is a risk factor for new-onset depression among US service members. Post-deployment screening may be beneficial for US service members exposed to combat.