Abstract
Objective
To examine the effects of campus services on the health of veterans with traumatic
injuries and comorbidities as they return from military service and enter college.
Design
Cross-sectional Internet survey using a mixed-methods analysis approach.
Setting
Four-year urban research university.
Participants
Veterans returning from active military duty (N=127).
Interventions
None.
Main Outcome Measures
Surveys included standardized measures of health status, traumatic injuries, and functional
impairment (PTSD Checklist, Civilian version; Veterans Health Administration traumatic
brain injury [TBI] screen; and Veterans RAND-12 item Health Survey); use of campus
services and perceived effectiveness of these services in supporting reintegration
to the university; and recommendations for additional services.
Results
Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that student veterans experience high rates
of chronic pain that interfere with their daily functioning (92.7%), symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) (77.9%), symptoms of TBI (26.0%), and comorbidities as the
polytrauma clinical triad (14.2%). Despite the high prevalence of pain, PTSD, and
TBI, few students used disability services (5.2%), counseling services (18.8%), or
student health services (36.5%). Students experienced challenges accessing needed
health services when reintegrating from the military to the university, including
mutable university service factors.
Conclusions
Findings indicate the need for campus services to address the particular needs of
student veterans and the need for determining what particular services should be offered
to help this population cope with injuries and succeed in college.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
GPA (grade point average), PCT (polytrauma clinical triad), PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), TBI (traumatic brain injury)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: October 30, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Veteran Student Services (UNC Charlotte IRB no. 13-12-30); and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, College of Health and Human Services.
Publication of this article was supported by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
