Wartime increases the risk of chronic pain for military women Active-duty servicewomen have an increased risk of chronic pain during times of intense combat exposure Female military spouses also have an increased risk MONDAY, July 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Wartime appears to increase the risk of chronic pain for military women, a new study suggests. Active-duty servicewomen who served between 2006 and 2013 – a period of heightened combat deployments – had a significantly increased risk of chronic pain compared to women serving at other times, according to results published July 5 in the journal . Likewise, female family members of military personnel serving in 2006-2013 also were more likely to experience chronic pain, researchers found.
“I was surprised by the magnitude of the effect we observed here, particularly among female civilian spouses,” lead researcher , an orthopedic surgeon with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. “This underscores an overlooked aspect of deployment schedules that the Military Health System must recognize.” About 21% of U.
S. adults experience chronic pain, which can persist for months to years, researchers said in background notes. For the new study, researchers analyzed Military Health System medical records for nearly 3.
5 million women 18 to 64 from 2006 to 2020. Nearly 325,000 women (9%) had a diagnosis of chronic pain. Researchers divided the women into two groups -- those treated from 2006 to 2013, .
