Somatoform-Spectrum Diagnoses Among Medically Evacuated “Operation Enduring Freedom” and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” Personnel

Ten percent of military medical evacuees from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are psychiatric referrals. Three percent of these psychiatric patients had somatoform-spectrum disorders (SSDs). Potential reasons for this low rate include lower stigma for other types of psychiatric presentations and the possibilities that SSD patients have not yet emerged in clinical settings or are managed in deployment environments. SSD patients, compared with other veterans, are more likely to be enlisted-rank, younger, and an ethnic minority. They are more likely to have non-combat deployment stressors and past psychiatric histories than combat-specific stressors and family problems at home.