Military Sexual Trauma

Frayne, S. M., Skinner, K. M., Sullivan, L. M., Tripp, T. J., Hankin,C. S., Kressin, N. R., et al. (1999). Medical profile of women VeteransAdministration outpatients who report a history of sexual assaultoccurring while in the military. Journal of Women’s Health andGender-Based Medicine, 8, 835-845. To profile differences incurrent physical symptoms and medical conditions among womenusers of Veterans Administration (VA) health services with andwithout a self-reported history of sexual assault sustained duringmilitary service, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of anationally representative, random sample of women Veterans usingVA outpatient services (n = 3632). A self-administered, mailedsurvey asked whether women had sustained sexual assault whilein the military and requested information about a spectrum ofphysical symptoms and medical conditions. A history of sexualassault while in the military was reported by 23% of women VAusers and was associated with current physical symptoms andmedical conditions in every domain assessed. For example,women who reported sexual assault were more likely to indicatethat they had a “heart attack” within the past year, even afteradjusting for age, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking history(OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-4.0). Among women reporting a history ofsexual assault while in the military, 26% endorsed > or = 12 of 24symptoms/conditions, compared with 11% of women with noreported sexual assault while in the military (p < 0.001). Cliniciansneed to be attuned to the high frequency of sexual assaultoccurring while in the military reported by women VA users andits associated array of current physical symptoms and medicalconditions. Clinicians should consider screening both younger andolder patients for a sexual violence history, especially patients withmultiple physical symptoms. Kang, H., Dalager, N., Mahan, C., & Ishii, E. (2005). The role ofsexual assault on the risk of PTSD among Gulf War veterans.Annals of Epidemiology, 15, 191-195. Purpose: The 1991 Gulf Warwas the first major military deployment where female troops wereintegrated into almost every military unit, except for combat groundunits. We evaluated the impact of reported sexual trauma duringthis deployment on the risk of PTSD after the war. Methods: Anested case–control analysis was conducted using the datacollected in a population-based health survey of 30,000 Gulf Warera Veterans. A total of 1,381 Gulf War Veterans with current PTSDwere compared with 10,060 Gulf Veteran controls without PTSD forself-reported in-theater experiences of sexual harassment/assaultand combat exposure. Results: The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for