Psychiatric medical evacuations in individuals with diagnosed pre-deployment family problems, active component, U.S....

This study evaluated incidence of pre-deployment family problem diagnoses and psychiatric medical evacuations among a population of active component service members without a history of previous mental health diagnoses, who deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility for the first time between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2014. During the surveillance period, 6,182 service members received an incident family problems diagnosis during the pre-deployment period, with an overall incidence of 5.6 cases per 1,000 deployers. The incidence of pre-deployment family problem diagnoses was generally stable over the study period. Compared to their respective counterparts, rates of pre-deployment family problems were highest among females, non-Hispanic black service members, those who were married, enlisted service members, and Army members. A total of 2,190 active component service members were evacuated from theater for psychiatric reasons, with an overall incidence rate of 3.1 per 1,000 deployed person-years. Of evacuated service members, 1.7% had diagnosed pre-deployment family problems (N=38). Incidence of psychiatric medical evacuation was consistently higher among those with pre-deployment family problems among all demographic subgroups, and overall was 2.7 times the incidence among those without documented family problems.