By the Numbers - July 8, 2013

By the Numbers - July 8, 2013

39.7% and 3.3%

The percentages, respectively, of homeless female veterans and homeless male veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST), according to "a cross-sectional study of 126,598 homeless Veterans who used VHA outpatient care in fiscal year 2010," recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. According to the researchers:

Veterans who experienced MST demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of almost all mental health conditions examined as compared to other homeless women and men, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, bipolar disorders, personality disorders, suicide, and, among men only, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. Nearly all homeless Veterans had at least one mental health visit and Veterans who experienced MST utilized significantly more mental health visits compared to Veterans who did not experience MST.