VVA Lauds Release of IOM Report On PTSD Compensation....
Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 5:38 pm
Vietnam Veterans Of America Lauds The Release Of IOM Report On PTSD Compensation And Military Service
“The Institute of Medicine/National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences report on PTSD Compensation and Military Service, released today, validates what Vietnam Veterans of America has been alleging for some years. The VA needs to do a much better job of accurately diagnosing and properly adjudicating disability compensation claims for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),.” said VVA National President John Rowan.
“This report reiterates the need for much better training and standardized certification of adjudicators at VA, better training for VA’s examining clinicians, and adequate time and resources for examining clinicians to do their job properly at VA. Further, it notes that the onset of legitimate PTSD or a major relapse can occur at any time, sometimes decades after the experience, sparked by a variety of causes,” Rowan continued.
The report underscores the need for Congress to take urgent steps to ensure the VA implement the guidelines proffered by the Institute of Medicine regarding improved training, certification of raters, standardization of work products, adjusting workloads of clinicians to allow them enough time to do their job properly the first time, and accountability for quality of work by both clinicians and by the lay persons at every step in the process.
VA has already developed many of the tools necessary to improve the process to which the report refers, such as the PTSD curriculum located at www.va.gov/vhi or the already existing VA- developed (in 2002) guide named the “Best Practice Manual for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Compensation & Pension Examinations” located at http://www.vva.org/Committees/PTSD/PTSDManualFinal6.pdf, which could serve as a basis for operating and training until the VA can test other standard operating procedures and examining instruments specifically for PTSD. Rowan noted, “VA has the tools, now they need to just pick them up and use them correctly and with discipline.”
VVA thanks the National Academies and the participating scientists for their careful work and for producing a report that the VA can start to implement before Memorial Day 2007. VVA calls on Secretary of Veterans Affairs Nicholson to embrace this report in the positive spirit in which it has been prepared and move to implement the highly practical recommendations without delay.
“Our young men and women returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans of previous generations who suffer from neuro-psychiatric wounds deserve no less than immediate implementation of the results of this fine work, ”said John Rowan.Injuries during combat may lead to PTSD and depression in soldiers so states APA study
NEWS RELEASE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION 1000 WESTERN BOULEVARD, SUITE 1825 ARLINGTON, VA 22209
For Information Contact: Lydia Sermons-Ward, 703-907-8640
Embargoed until: October 1, 2006, 12: 01 a. m. ET press@psych.org Release No. 06-60
Hillarie Turner, 703-907-8536 hturner@psych.org
Wounds of War: Study Identifies Injury Severity as a Risk Factorfor PTSD and Depression Among U. S. Soldiers
Arlington, Va. – The first study on U. S. soldiers seriously wounded or injured during combat in Iraq or Afghanistan reports that injury severity may predict the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. The study appears in the October issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Among these soldiers the presence of PTSD or depression seven months later was associated with the severity of physical problems at one month post injury. Eighty percent of the soldiers with PTSD or depression seven months after injury had not shown signs of either condition at one month. The results suggest that the emotional impact of injury deepens in the first year after evacuation from combat.
Results are described in the article, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battle-Injured Soldiers” by Thomas A. Grieger, M. D., and colleagues at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The study found that the soldiers’ own ratings of their physical problems, in contrast to objective measures of injury severity by medical personnel, were more significantly associated with later PTSD.
The soldiers were among the most severely wounded of those receiving combat injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan from March 2003 to September 2004 and were evacuated for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D. C. A total of 613 patients were screened for PTSD and depressive symptoms one month after injury; 243 completed assessments at one, four and seven months. The soldiers also reported on specific combat experiences, deployment length and the severity of their current physical problems.
“With the recent improvements in battlefield medical care, more soldiers with severe injuries are surviving with severe physical problems, as well as with combat-associated PTSD and depression,” said Robert Freedman, M. D., AJP editor-in-chief. “Identifying the most important risk factors for later PTSD and depression could lead to early interventions for preventing or moderating these conditions.”
The rates of PTSD and depression were both four percent at one month. The rates for PTSD climbed to 12 percent at four and seven months; the rates for depression climbed to nine percent for both periods. Ratings of physical problems and PTSD symptoms at one month were the only significant risk factors identified. Age, gender, marital status, combat exposure, deployment length and one-month depression severity were not related to later PTSD and depression.
The study was conducted as part of the authors’ employment at the Walter Reed Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. There was no industry sponsorship of this study. Additional financial disclosures appear at the end of the article.
(Am J Psychiatry. 2006; 163: 1777-1783). Note to Editors: Contact APA’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs at 703-907-8640 or press@psych.org for an embargoed copy of the article.
About the American Journal of Psychiatry: The American Journal of Psychiatry, the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association, publishes a monthly issue with scientific articles submitted by psychiatrists and other scientists worldwide. The peer review and editing process is conducted independently of any other American Psychiatric Association components. Therefore, statements in this press release or the articles in the Journal are not official policy statements of the American Psychiatric Association. The Journal's editorial policies conform to the Uniform Requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, of which it is a member. For further information about the Journal visit www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org.
About the American Psychiatric Association: The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose more than 36, 000 physician members specialize in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at www.psych.org and www.HealthyMinds.org.
VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release
May 8, 2007
No. 07-009
Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146
“The Institute of Medicine/National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences report on PTSD Compensation and Military Service, released today, validates what Vietnam Veterans of America has been alleging for some years. The VA needs to do a much better job of accurately diagnosing and properly adjudicating disability compensation claims for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),.” said VVA National President John Rowan.
“This report reiterates the need for much better training and standardized certification of adjudicators at VA, better training for VA’s examining clinicians, and adequate time and resources for examining clinicians to do their job properly at VA. Further, it notes that the onset of legitimate PTSD or a major relapse can occur at any time, sometimes decades after the experience, sparked by a variety of causes,” Rowan continued.
The report underscores the need for Congress to take urgent steps to ensure the VA implement the guidelines proffered by the Institute of Medicine regarding improved training, certification of raters, standardization of work products, adjusting workloads of clinicians to allow them enough time to do their job properly the first time, and accountability for quality of work by both clinicians and by the lay persons at every step in the process.
VA has already developed many of the tools necessary to improve the process to which the report refers, such as the PTSD curriculum located at www.va.gov/vhi or the already existing VA- developed (in 2002) guide named the “Best Practice Manual for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Compensation & Pension Examinations” located at http://www.vva.org/Committees/PTSD/PTSDManualFinal6.pdf, which could serve as a basis for operating and training until the VA can test other standard operating procedures and examining instruments specifically for PTSD. Rowan noted, “VA has the tools, now they need to just pick them up and use them correctly and with discipline.”
VVA thanks the National Academies and the participating scientists for their careful work and for producing a report that the VA can start to implement before Memorial Day 2007. VVA calls on Secretary of Veterans Affairs Nicholson to embrace this report in the positive spirit in which it has been prepared and move to implement the highly practical recommendations without delay.
“Our young men and women returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans of previous generations who suffer from neuro-psychiatric wounds deserve no less than immediate implementation of the results of this fine work, ”said John Rowan.Injuries during combat may lead to PTSD and depression in soldiers so states APA study
NEWS RELEASE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION 1000 WESTERN BOULEVARD, SUITE 1825 ARLINGTON, VA 22209
For Information Contact: Lydia Sermons-Ward, 703-907-8640
Embargoed until: October 1, 2006, 12: 01 a. m. ET press@psych.org Release No. 06-60
Hillarie Turner, 703-907-8536 hturner@psych.org
Wounds of War: Study Identifies Injury Severity as a Risk Factorfor PTSD and Depression Among U. S. Soldiers
Arlington, Va. – The first study on U. S. soldiers seriously wounded or injured during combat in Iraq or Afghanistan reports that injury severity may predict the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. The study appears in the October issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Among these soldiers the presence of PTSD or depression seven months later was associated with the severity of physical problems at one month post injury. Eighty percent of the soldiers with PTSD or depression seven months after injury had not shown signs of either condition at one month. The results suggest that the emotional impact of injury deepens in the first year after evacuation from combat.
Results are described in the article, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battle-Injured Soldiers” by Thomas A. Grieger, M. D., and colleagues at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The study found that the soldiers’ own ratings of their physical problems, in contrast to objective measures of injury severity by medical personnel, were more significantly associated with later PTSD.
The soldiers were among the most severely wounded of those receiving combat injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan from March 2003 to September 2004 and were evacuated for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D. C. A total of 613 patients were screened for PTSD and depressive symptoms one month after injury; 243 completed assessments at one, four and seven months. The soldiers also reported on specific combat experiences, deployment length and the severity of their current physical problems.
“With the recent improvements in battlefield medical care, more soldiers with severe injuries are surviving with severe physical problems, as well as with combat-associated PTSD and depression,” said Robert Freedman, M. D., AJP editor-in-chief. “Identifying the most important risk factors for later PTSD and depression could lead to early interventions for preventing or moderating these conditions.”
The rates of PTSD and depression were both four percent at one month. The rates for PTSD climbed to 12 percent at four and seven months; the rates for depression climbed to nine percent for both periods. Ratings of physical problems and PTSD symptoms at one month were the only significant risk factors identified. Age, gender, marital status, combat exposure, deployment length and one-month depression severity were not related to later PTSD and depression.
The study was conducted as part of the authors’ employment at the Walter Reed Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. There was no industry sponsorship of this study. Additional financial disclosures appear at the end of the article.
(Am J Psychiatry. 2006; 163: 1777-1783). Note to Editors: Contact APA’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs at 703-907-8640 or press@psych.org for an embargoed copy of the article.
About the American Journal of Psychiatry: The American Journal of Psychiatry, the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association, publishes a monthly issue with scientific articles submitted by psychiatrists and other scientists worldwide. The peer review and editing process is conducted independently of any other American Psychiatric Association components. Therefore, statements in this press release or the articles in the Journal are not official policy statements of the American Psychiatric Association. The Journal's editorial policies conform to the Uniform Requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, of which it is a member. For further information about the Journal visit www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org.
About the American Psychiatric Association: The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose more than 36, 000 physician members specialize in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at www.psych.org and www.HealthyMinds.org.
VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release
May 8, 2007
No. 07-009
Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146