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The burden of psychological symptoms in UK Armed Forces
Margaret Jones1, Roberto J Rona, Richard Hooper
1King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College, London, UK. Margaret.jones@kcl.ac.uk
Objective:
To assess the prevalence of psychological symptoms during periods of relatively low deployment activity and the factors associated with each psychological health outcome.
Methods:
A survey of 4500 randomly selected UK service personnel was carried out in 2002. The questionnaire included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL), 15 symptoms and an assessment of alcohol intake.
Results:
A total of 20% were above cut-offs for GHQ-12, 15% for symptoms, 12% for alcohol intake and 2% for PCL. Gender, age, excessive drinking and smoking were independently associated with most outcomes of interest. Number of deployments was independently associated with multiple symptoms and excessive drinking. High post-traumatic stress disorder score was more frequent in the Army and in lower ranks.
Conclusions:
Psychological symptoms are highly prevalent in UK Armed Forces. Many risk factors are associated with measures of psychological ill-health.
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