A Study of Prematurely Discharged from Service and Related Factors in Taiwanese Conscript Soldiers with Mental Illness

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical data of Taiwanese conscript soldiers who were prematurely discharged from service due to mental illness and identify factors predictive of psychiatric hospitalization leading to subsequent separation from service. Methods: We retrospectively collected medical records of conscript soldiers who were prematurely discharged from service due to mental illness from September 2003 to September 2004. Their demographic data, clinical characteristics, the distribution of main psychiatric diagnoses for medical discharge, and psychiatric comorbidities were registered and statistically described. Furthermore, all participants were subdivided into inpatient and outpatient groups, and the differences between both groups examined. Results: During the one-year period, 463 (24.2%) conscript soldiers were prematurely discharged from service due to psychiatric disorders. The first four psychiatric diagnoses for medical discharge were major depression, mental insufficiency, bipolar Ⅱ depression, and personality disorder. Adjustment disorder and substance use disorder were the common psychiatric comorbidities. The common methods used in suicide attempts after enlistment included drug ingestion, wrist cutting, and carbon monoxide poisoning. There were many significant differences between the inpatient and outpatient groups. Several variables were significantly predictive of psychiatric hospitalization and subsequent separation from service: specific main psychiatric diagnoses, service on offshore islands, family psychiatric history, the presence of a substance-use disorder, postenlistment suicide attempts, and higher educational levels. Conclusions: Our study indicated that depressive disorders were the major psychiatric problems to be dealt with in Taiwanese conscript soldiers. Further work is warranted to investigate the role of mental illness in the early attrition of Taiwanese voluntary soldiers.

並列關鍵字

military psychiatry ； conscript soldiers ； psychiatric disorders ； premature discharge

國際替代計量

全文下載

主題瀏覽