Mental Health and Obesity Among Veterans: A Possible Need for Integrated Care

Objective:The goal was to examine psychiatric diagnosis rates among a national cohort of primary care patients with and without obesity.Methods:The cohort was derived from national Veterans Health Administration data (women, N=342,262; men, N=4,524,787). Sex-stratified descriptive statistics charact...

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Published inPsychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 71; no. 5; pp. 506 - 509
Main Authors Breland, Jessica Y, Frayne, Susan M, Timko, Christine, Washington, Donna L, Maguen, Shira
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Psychiatric Association 01.05.2020
American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Anxiety - epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
Female
Humans
Male
Medical diagnosis
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Obesity
Obesity - epidemiology
Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Psychiatry
Sex Factors
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
United States - epidemiology
Veterans - psychology
Veterans Health
United States
Obesity
Veterans issues
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Summary:Objective:The goal was to examine psychiatric diagnosis rates among a national cohort of primary care patients with and without obesity.Methods:The cohort was derived from national Veterans Health Administration data (women, N=342,262; men, N=4,524,787). Sex-stratified descriptive statistics characterized psychiatric diagnosis rates. Chi-square tests determined whether diagnosis rates differed by obesity status (α=0.001).Results:Rates of any psychiatric diagnosis were higher among women than among men and among people with obesity versus without obesity (women, 53.9% vs. 50.4%; men, 37.9% vs. 35.2%). Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis rates were higher for people with obesity, and substance use disorder diagnosis rates were lower for people with obesity. Anxiety diagnosis rates were slightly lower among women with obesity versus women without obesity.Conclusions:Programs simultaneously addressing weight management and mental health could address the psychiatric comorbidities observed among people with obesity. Women are most likely to need these services.
ISSN:1075-2730
1557-9700
DOI:10.1176/appi.ps.201900078