Cumulative Incidence of Mental Disorders Among German Military Personnel Deployed to Iraq 2015–2018—An Epidemiological Study

Bibliographic Data

ID16946333
AuthorsUlrich Wesemann (0000-0002-2537-2148, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus, corresponding author), Karl-Heinz Renner (0000-0001-8502-2126, Universität der Bundeswehr München), Harald Hofmann (0000-0001-8341-8493, Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support), Nils Hüttermann (0009-0003-4204-0975, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus), Gerd Willmund (0000-0003-2267-6389, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus), Gerd-Dieter Willmund
Year2025
Volume15
Issue5
Pages81
Publication date2025-05-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2174-8144 • E-ISSN: 2254-9625
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/ejihpe15050081
PMID40422310
OpenAlexW4410363999
LanguageEN
References cited61

Background: There is currently no study examining the mental health consequences of deployed German service members in Iraq. The aim is, therefore, to determine the cumulative incidence and latency period until the first diagnosis of deployment-related mental disorders. We hypothesized a lower rate than for Afghanistan with 2.4%. Methods: All registered N = 1635 German military personnel who were deployed to the mission “Training support contingent Northern Iraq” between 2015 and 2018 were included. Individuals with mental disorders attributed to this deployment were identified in a central database. Differences in latency between diagnoses were calculated by t-tests for independent samples. Results: By January 2024, n = 55 (3.4%) individuals had been recorded who developed a mental disorder as a result of this deployment. Most of them (54.5%) had a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the main or comorbid diagnosis. There were no gender differences in the cumulative incidence (male 3.6%; female 2.9). The latency period between the onset of disease and initial diagnosis was, on average, 1.0 years (standard deviation 1.1 years; Q25

Cohort · Cumulative incidence · Environmental health · Geography · German · Military personnel · Political science · Psychiatry · Medicine · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies · Epidemiology · Internal Medicine