MONTRÉAL - Plus de 10 pour cent des soldats canadiens qui ont servi en Afghanistan sont rentrés au pays avec des problèmes de santé mentale, affirme une étude publiée par la Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.
L'étude portait sur 16 193 militaires qui ont subi un dépistage post-déploiement après avoir été déployés en Afghanistan. Le dépistage comportait un questionnaire détaillé et une entrevue semi-structurée de 40 minutes avec un clinicien de santé mentale.
Six problèmes de santé mentale étaient ciblés. Les symptômes d'un ou de plusieurs d'entre eux ont été décelés chez 10,2 pour cent des personnes dépistées. Les symptômes de la dépression mineure ont été constatés chez 3,3 pour cent des sujets, contre 3,2 pour cent pour le trouble dépressif majeur et 2,8 pour cent pour le trouble de stress post-traumatique.
Les facteurs de risque les plus marqués des problèmes de santé mentale post-déploiement étaient les soins de santé mentale passés et l’exposition au combat intense.
Contrairement aux résultats obtenus ailleurs, le statut de réserviste, la durée du déploiement et le nombre de déploiements précédents n’étaient pas en relation avec les problèmes de santé mentale.
L'article prévient que ces groupes à risque peuvent être ciblés par des initiatives de prévention et de contrôle.
Violences en Afghanistan (Attention: images violentes)
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Open Image ModalAfghan security guard seen at the entrance gate of a foreign logistics company at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalA victim\'s shoe lies on the ground as Afghan police secure the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on June 11, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan officials and bystanders are pictured at the site of a roadside bomb blast in Ghazni province on July 3, 2013. (Rahmatullah Alizad/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan security guard seen at the entrance gate of a foreign logistics company at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan men carry a wounded man who is a security guard at a foreign logistics company as smoke rises from the entrance gate at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan security guard seen at the entrance gate of a foreign logistics company at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan policemen inspect the site of a suicide car bomb in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on June17, 2013. (NORR MOHAMMAD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghanistan security personnel walk beside a body at the site of a blast in Kabul on June 18, 2013. (MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalA wounded Afghan man who is a security guard at a foreign logistics company seen at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan policemen examine a badly damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on June 11, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalInjured Afghan survivors receive medical treatment after a suicide attack, at a hospital in Kabul on June 11, 2013. (DAUD YARDOST/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan policemen are seen through the window of a badly damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on June 11, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan security forces stand guard at the site of a suicide attack near Kabul military airport in Kabul on June 10, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalThe body of a Taliban fighter lies on the ground in a building that was used for an attack near the Kabul military airport in Kabul on June 10, 2013. (MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalAfghan men carry a wounded man who is a security guard at a foreign logistics company as smoke rises from the entrance gate at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on July 2, 2013. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)