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Women veterans with depression five times more likely to be unemployed

Women veterans with depression were almost five times more likely to be unemployed compared with veterans who tested negative for depression, according to data published in Medical Care.

“Unemployment was prevalent in this national sample of women veterans,” the researchers wrote. “Shortly after the National Survey of Women Veterans was completed, in January of 2010, the unemployment rate among women veterans was 11.2% vs. 9.4% for male veterans and 8.3% for civilian women.”

Alison B. Hamilton, PhD, MPH, of the VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of the National Survey of Women Veterans (n = 1,605).

They found that 10% of women veterans were unemployed. Screening positive for depression was a risk factor for unemployment (OR = 4.7; 95% CI, 1.8-12.4), according to data.

Those with military service during wartime (OR = 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1-7.3), and service in the regular military compared with those in the National Guards/Reserves only, also had an increased risk (OR = 6.8; 95% CI, 2.2-20.5), according to researchers.

“Screening for unemployment and other vulnerabilities among women veterans may also be an important step in ensuring that women veterans are directed to services that will help them to obtain the necessary support to thrive in their post-military lives,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.