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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 7/2011

01-07-2011 | Original Paper

Health of national service veterans: an analysis of a community-based sample using data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of England

Authors: Charlotte Woodhead, Roberto J. Rona, Amy C. Iversen, Deirdre MacManus, Matthew Hotopf, Kimberlie Dean, Sally McManus, Howard Meltzer, Traolach Brugha, Rachel Jenkins, Simon Wessely, Nicola T. Fear

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 7/2011

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Abstract

Purpose

In the context of increasing concerns for the health of UK armed forces veterans, this study aims to compare the prevalence of current mental, physical and behavioural difficulties in conscripted national service veterans with population controls, and to assess the impact of length of service in the military. The compulsory nature of national service sets these veterans apart from younger veterans.

Method

Data are drawn from a nationally representative community-dwelling sample of England. We compared 484 male national service veterans to 301 male non-veterans aged 65+ years.

Results

There were no differences in mental, behavioural or physical outcomes, except that veterans were less likely to have “any mental disorder” than non-veterans (age adjusted OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.31, 0.99). Longer serving veterans were older but were not different in terms of mental, behavioural or physical outcomes.

Conclusions

Community-dwelling national service veterans are at no greater risk of current adverse mental, physical or behavioural health than population controls.
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Metadata
Title
Health of national service veterans: an analysis of a community-based sample using data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of England
Authors
Charlotte Woodhead
Roberto J. Rona
Amy C. Iversen
Deirdre MacManus
Matthew Hotopf
Kimberlie Dean
Sally McManus
Howard Meltzer
Traolach Brugha
Rachel Jenkins
Simon Wessely
Nicola T. Fear
Publication date
01-07-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 7/2011
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0232-0

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