Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 26.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_36118" align="alignleft" width="180"]Robert J. Ursano, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Director, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) Dept of Psychiatry Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences   Bethesda, MD Dr. Ursano[/caption] Robert J. Ursano, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Director, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Dept of Psychiatry Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, MD  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is part of the STARRS study- a study to identify risk and protective factors for suicide in US Army. Originally funded by NIMH it is not funded by DoD. It has been called the "Framingham study" for suicide and has been highly productive. In this study we report that units with one suicide attempt are at increased risk of a second- indicating clustering of suicide attempts.
Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania / 16.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_30569" align="alignleft" width="150"]Joanne N. Wood, MD, MSHP Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Research Director, SafePlace Faculty, PolicyLab The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Dr. Joanne Wood[/caption] Joanne N. Wood, MD, MSHP Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Research Director, SafePlace Faculty, PolicyLab The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Each year the U.S. Army Family Advocacy program (FAP) investigates between 6000 to 9000 reports of alleged abuse or neglect involving children of Army service members.   In approximately 48% of reported cases FAP determines a child was a victim of maltreatment, substantiates the report, and collaborates with local civilian child protection service (CPS) agencies in providing services and ensuring safety. Thus, FAP plays a key role in supporting Army families and protecting children.  But FAP can only investigate and respond to cases of child abuse and neglect about which they are aware.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Hematology, NEJM, Stanford / 08.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: D. Alan Nelson, MPAS, PhD Postdoctoral research fellow Stanford Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The study was inspired by the uncertainty surrounding sickle cell trait (SCT) and its association with serious exertional collapse events and mortality in active populations. I conducted initial, exploratory analyses on these topics in 2014-15 while examining a range of military readiness predictors and outcomes. The early work indicated that the risk of mortality, rhabdomyolysis and other exertional events arising from SCT might be substantially lower than that suggested by prior work in the research literature. Dr. Lianne Kurina and I decided to conduct further, focused study at the Stanford University School of Medicine to confirm or refute these findings. In considering best approaches, we noted that there was an absence of prior research in which the  sickle cell trait status of an entire, large, physically-active study population was known. This limitation could introduce bias to inflate the apparent impact of a theorized predictive factor. Aside from the challenges in studying the impact of SCT on exertional outcomes, with respect to prevention, a further concern is that  sickle cell trait is a non-modifiable trait. If it were a serious risk factor for rhabdomyolysis and/or mortality, despite careful exertional injury precautions such as those employed by the Army, this might present great challenges for prevention efforts. To maximize the potential for new research to provide actionable prevention information, our interests included examining a range of modifiable risk factors for rhabdomyolysis. Dr. Kurina and I have employed large, longitudinal military datasets for about five years to examine critical military health outcomes, making this study a natural progression of our joint work. The research proceeded with the support of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and in cooperation with a distinguished group of experts who co-authored the paper and advised the project. The study was conducted using de-identified records of all SCT-tested African American US Army soldiers on active duty during 2011 - 2014 (N = 47,944).
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 07.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24973" align="alignleft" width="160"]Andrew Anglemyer, PhD MPH Operations Research Department U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943 Dr. Andrew Anglemyer[/caption] Andrew Anglemyer, PhD MPH Operations Research Department U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Anglemyer: Suicide prevention programs in the military are ubiquitous. We aimed to identify the trends in suicide for each service specifically and explore any nonclinical factors that may be associated with the chosen methods of suicide. The trends in suicide are similar to what others have found. The differences in those rates between services are striking, though. Not only are most suicides in the active duty military among the Army personnel, but the suicide rate among Army personnel is the highest and has been every year since 2006. Additionally, among Army personnel and Marines who committed suicide, those with an infantry or special operations job classification were significantly more likely to use a firearm to commit suicide than those without those job classifications.
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 27.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24715" align="alignleft" width="131"]Robert J. Ursano, M.D. Professor and Chair Department of Psychiatry/ Director Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Dr. Robert Ursano[/caption] Robert J. Ursano, M.D. Professor and Chair Department of Psychiatry/ Director Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ursano: This study is part of STARRS-LS (Study to address risk and resilience in service members-longitudinal study). STARRS is a group of studies that address suicide risk in the US Army. Suicidal behavior includes suicide ideation, plans, attempts and completions. Understanding the transitions between these is an important goal. One component of STARRS is the examination of data available on all soldiers who were in the Army 2004-2009. This study examines suicide attempts in soldiers serving 2004-2009 in order to understand the association with deployment and the timing of suicide attempts as well as their association with mental health problems. STARRS is directed to identifying the who, when and where of service member risk. Then interventions can better be developed for these soldiers.
Abuse and Neglect, Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 29.01.2016

[caption id="attachment_20983" align="alignleft" width="168"]Tracie O. Afifi, PhD Associate Professor of Epidemiology CIHR New Investigator (2013-2018) Departments of Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Manitoba Dr. Tracie Afifi[/caption] MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tracie O. Afifi, PhD Associate Professor of Epidemiology CIHR New Investigator (2013-2018) Departments of Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Manitoba  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Afifi: Recent studies in the US have examined predictors and correlates of suicide among solider, but none of these studies have investigated the potential role that child abuse exposure may play in suicide-related outcomes. In addition no representative military and civilian comparisons from any country have examined possible differences in the prevalence of child abuse exposure and the potential differences in the relationships between child abuse exposure and suicide-related outcomes in these populations. This study uses nationally representative military and civilian samples from Canada. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Afifi: Child abuse was more prevalent among Regular Forces personnel (47.7%) and Reserve Forces personnel (49.4%) compared to the Canadian general population (33.1%). Child abuse exposure was associated with an increased likelihood of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts in military and civilian populations, with associations weaker for many outcomes in military personnel relative to civilians. Deployment-related trauma was associated with past-year suicidal thoughts and suicide plans. However, relative to deployment-related trauma, child abuse exposure had a more robust association with suicide-related outcomes.
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, PTSD / 05.12.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James L . Spira, PhD, MPH, ABPP Professor, Department of Psychiatry, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii Director, National Center for PTSD, Department of Veterans Affairs, Pacific Islands Division Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Spira:  Approximately 1.5 million Americans survive a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from traffic accidents, assaults, sports, and work injuries, with the vast majority of these being primarily mild (mTBI), otherwise known as concussion.1 Concussion, however, is uniquely problematic in the military given the new strategies of war encountered by service members when fighting an insurgency using improvised explosive devices. The rate of concussion experienced by United States (U.S.) service members engaging in combat during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been estimated at between 15% and 22%.2–4There has been controversy in the area of neurotrauma as to whether persistent postconcussive symptoms (PPCSx) are due to neurological causes or solely due to the psychological sequelae of having been exposed to a traumatic event.  The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have afforded an opportunity to examine these factors, although teasing them apart has proven difficult.  The most influential study of persistent effects of concussion in service members is that of Hoge and colleagues,5 in which they failed to find an independent effect of prior concussion on PPCSx, once depression and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) was taken into account.  They went so far as to recommend that assessment for concussion following deployment is unnecessary.  Others, however, have reported persistent cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms following concussion.
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Social Issues / 31.07.2014

Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH MPH Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University New York, NY 10032-3727MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH MPH Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University New York, NY 10032-3727 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Cerdá: We evaluated 1,095 Ohio National Guard soldiers, who had primarily served in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2008 and 2009 to determine the effect of civilian stressors and deployment-related traumatic events and stressors on post-deployment alcohol use disorder. Participants were interviewed three times over 3 years about alcohol use disorder, exposure to deployment-related traumatic events like land mines, vehicle crashes, taking enemy fire, and witnessing casualties, and about experiences of civilian life setbacks since returning from duty, including job loss, legal problems, divorce, and serious financial and legal problems. We found that having at least one civilian stressor or a reported incident of sexual harassment during deployment raised the odds of alcohol use disorders. In contrast, combat-related traumatic events were only marginally associated with alcohol problems.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Psychological Science, University of Pittsburgh / 25.07.2014

John Blosnich, Ph.D., M.P.H., Post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Blosnich, Ph.D., M.P.H., Post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Blosnich: I think there are two main findings from our study: First, since the beginning of the All-Volunteer U.S. military in 1973, there has been a shift in childhood experiences among men who have served in the military. Second, the childhood experiences of women who have served in the military have been largely similar across the Draft and All-Volunteer Eras.