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WEDNESDAY, May 1, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Diagnosed mental health conditions, pharmaceutical treatment, and outpatient visits for mental health all increased among U.S. pediatric military dependents from 2003 to 2015, according to a study published online April 10 in Psychiatric Services<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Hisle-Gorman, M.S.W., Ph.D., from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed diagnosed mental health conditions, treatment, and psychiatric medication prescriptions among 1,798,530 children (aged 2 to 18 years) who were military dependents from 2003 to 2015.<\/p>\n
During the study period, the researchers found that the prevalence of children with diagnosed mental health conditions increased from 9.2 to 15.2 percent (rate ratio, 1.04). There was a 20 percent increase per year in identified suicidal ideation prevalence, a 2 percent annual increase in mental health care visits, and a 3 percent annual increase in psychiatric medication prescriptions. Larger increases were seen among older children.<\/p>\n
“These increases did not appear to be directly related to a parent’s deployment, since we did not see spikes in children’s mental health diagnosis, care, or pharmaceutical treatment during periods of increased deployment,” Hisle-Gorman said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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