Clinical and demographic factors associated with employment status in US military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between clinical and demographic factors with employment status in post-deployment US military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

PARTICIPANTS: 169 OIF/OEF veterans seen at a post-deployment clinic between December of 2009 and May of 2010.

METHODS: Data was collected retrospectively on employment status, age, marital status, gender, pre-deployment education, ratings of sleep disturbance, pain, and depression, and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or PTSD diagnosis.

RESULTS: Unemployment was highly prevalent in this sample (45%). Of the demographic and clinical factors examined, only a self-report of global depression severity was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of unemployment in multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–0.47). Age greater than 40 demonstrated a positive association with employment status that was of borderline statistical significance ([OR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0–8.1). Prior diagnoses of mTBI or PTSD, and current sleep or pain symptoms, were not associated with employment status.

CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with more severe self-reported depression had a higher prevalence of unemployment. Future prospective studies are needed to better understand which factors determine employment status in returning veterans.