Mental health treatment seeking by military members with posttraumatic stress disorder : findings on rates, characteristics, and predictors from a nationally representative Canadian military sample
Article [Accepted Manuscript]
Is part of
Canadian journal of psychiatry = Revue canadienne de psychiatrie ; vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 103-110.Abstract(s)
Objective: The goal of this study was to identify rates, characteristies, and predictors of mental
health treatment seeking by military members with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Method: Our sample was drawn from the 2002 Canadian Community Health
Survey-Canadian Forces Supplement (CCHS-CF) dataset. The CCHS-CF is the first
epidemiologic survey of PTSD and other mental health conditions in the Canadian military and
includes 8441 nationally representative Canadian Forces (CF) members. Of those, 549 who met
the criteria for lifetime PTSD were included in our analyses. To identify treatment rates and
characteristics, we examined frequency of treatment contact by professional and facility type.
To identify predictors of treatment seeking, we conducted a binary logistic regression with
lifetime treatment seeking as the outcome variable.
Results: About two-thirds of those with PTSD consulted with a professional regarding mental
health problems. The most frequently consulted professionals, during both the last year and
lifetime, included social workers and counsellors, medical doctors and general practitioners,
and psychiatrists. Consultations during the last year most often took place in a CF facility.
Treatment seeking was predicted by cumulative lifetime trauma exposure, index traumatic
event type, PTSD symptom interference, and comorbid major depressive disorder. Those with
comorbid depression were 3.75 times more likely to have sought treatment than those without.
Conclusions: Although a significant portion of military members with PTSD sought mental
health treatment, 1 in 3 never did. Trauma-related and illness and (or) need factors predicted
treatment seeking. Of all the predictors of treatment seeking, comorbid depression most
increased the likelihood of seeking treatment.
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