Purpose

The PHCoE Health Services and Population Research  program accesses and analyzes large health and administrative datasets to inform key psychological health (PH) research gaps. HSPR aggregates enterprise-level military data to produce topical reports and publications that inform military policy and decision-making. The overall purpose of HSPR is to examine the longitudinal trajectories of PH problems, patterns of Military Health System utilization, and costs associated with such problems. Specifically, the program aims to: 1) longitudinally model the incidence, prevalence, and trajectories of PH outcomes; 2) examine PH services utilization and costs as well as outcomes associated with management of PH conditions over time in the MHS; and 3) characterize these data to disseminate population-level, descriptive characteristics. HSPR frequently partners with military and relevant academic stakeholders to achieve these goals.

Benefits of this Approach

A wealth of programmatic data is obtained via electronic systems that aggregate medical record information from across the MHS. These data provide an unparalleled opportunity to conduct statistical analyses and modeling to help answer health services and PH questions to address specific research gaps and inform the scientific literature.

Recent Partners, Collaborators and Stakeholders

• U.S. Naval Special Warfare CommandLinks to the Naval Special Warfare Command site
• Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal Military Acceptance BoardLinks to the Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal joint publication
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS)Links to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences site
• U.S. Special Operations Command Links to the U.S. Special Operations Command site
• Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence 
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site
• Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, Behavioral Health DivisionLinks to the Army Medicine site

Ongoing Projects

• Long-term Neuropsychiatric Outcomes Associated with Mefloquine in the DOD
• The Effect of Higher-risk Opioid Prescriptions on PTSD and Depression Symptom Trajectories among U.S. Military Service Members.
• The Effect of Deployment Status on Prevalence and Incidence of Psychiatric Conditions among Military Service Members
• Combat Deployment, Psychological Health Diagnoses, and Psychological Health-related Physical Health Conditions
• Adjustment Disorders Part One: Characterizing Service Members with Adjustment Disorders and Factors Associated with Early Attrition
• Adjustment Disorders Part Two: Prognostic Factors and Functional Outcomes in Service Members Diagnosed with Adjustment Disorders
• Behavioral Health Treatments and Suicide Risk
• The CDC National Violent Death Report System and the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report Annual Linkage Project
• Behavioral Health Data Portal Risk Profile Analysis

Completed Projects

• Evaluating Measures of Combat Deployment for U.S. Army Personnel Using Various Sources of Administrative Data
• Women in Combat: The Effects of Combat Exposure and Gender on the Incidence and Persistence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Diagnostic Status
• Impact of Occupation on the Occurrence of Psychological Conditions in the Time Approaching Retirement from the Service after 20+ Years
• Patterns, Prevalence, and Burden of Multimorbidity in the U.S. Military
• Demographic, Behavioral, and Proximal Risk Factors for Gambling Disorder in the U.S. Military
• Longitudinal Investigation of Psychological Outcomes among Explosive Ordnance Disposal Personnel in the U.S. Military
• Longitudinal Investigation of Diagnosed Psychological and Physical Health Outcomes among U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen
• Psychological Health Outcomes among Drone and Manned Aircraft Pilots
• In-Theater Diagnostic Rates of Anxiety Disorders among U.S. Army Soldiers between 2008 and 2018
• Incident Rates of Sleep Diagnosis in Deployed Service Members 2008 to 2013
• Healthcare among Special Operations Forces Diagnosed and Treated for Traumatic Brain Injury