Exposure to a range of potentially traumatic events is a common experience among military members, many of whom face mental health and re-adjustment challenges upon returning from deployment.
Sabrina Day, 132nd Military Police Company, South Carolina National Guard, smothers her 3-year-old son, Blake with hugs and kisses on Aug. 4, 2014, at Eagle Aviation in Columbia, S.C. upon returning from deployment to Afghanistan.
PCS scores were available for pre-deployment, immediate post-deployment and approximately one year (+/− 4 months) after return from deployment.
This sample participated in a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of OEF/OIF veterans who were followed from pre-deployment to one year after return from deployment.
Deployment variables were measured immediately after return from deployment and included: deployment experiences (from the Deployment Risk and Resilience [DRRI] Aftermath of Battle subscale) [ 19], combat experiences (from the DRRI Combat Experiences subscale) [ 19], unit cohesion [ 24], PTSD symptoms [ 25, 26] and physical symptoms [ 22].
We similarly observed in our community sample that PCS scores were lower both immediately after and one year after return from deployment (p < 0.001) relative to pre-deployment PCS.
Importantly, we do not know whether there is a similar trend toward reduced physical function over time since return from deployment from OEF/OIF.
In summary, our observed PCS scores in OEF/OIF veterans were lower with increasing time between return from deployment and the visit to our clinic.
Our survey captured many of the participants approximately 3 months after return from deployment and likely represents the optimal time window to ascertain PTSD symptoms [ 21, 55].
Irrespective of the length between return from deployment and visit to our clinic, their rating of physical health is worse than that of the general U.S. population.
A higher proportion of individuals meeting criteria for probable PTSD occurred in the group seen later after return from deployment (Table 1).
