A new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital reveals that military women and female family members face significantly higher risks of chronic pain. Active-duty servicewomen who served during periods of heightened combat deployments (2006-2013) face a significantly heightened risk of chronic pain compared to those serving at other times, according to a new study from researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. The study also found that female dependents of military personnel serving in 2006-2013 are more likely to experience chronic pain and those of lower socioeconomic status and mental illness face an even higher risk.
Results are published in JAMA Network Open . We aimed to investigate the impact of frequent exposure to intense combat deployments on women in the military and their civilian spouses. My previous military service provided insight into the stress of repeated deployments on service members and their families.
However, I was surprised by the magnitude of the effect we observed here, particularly among female civilian spouses. This underscores an overlooked aspect of deployment schedules that the Military Health System must recognize." Andrew Schoenfeld, MD, MSc, first author, orthopedic surgeon in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Center for Surgery and Public Health at BWH Chronic pain-;a distressing condition that persists for months to years-;can significantly reduc.
