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Mental health and health service use among post-national service veterans: results from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2010

C. Woodhead ,
R. J. Rona ,
A. Iversen ,
D. MacManus ,
M. Hotopf ,
K. Dean ,
S. McManus ,
H. Meltzer ,
T. Brugha  and
R. Jenkins
...Show all authors
C. Woodhead
Affiliation:
Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King's College London, UK
R. J. Rona
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, UK
A. Iversen
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, UK
D. MacManus
Affiliation:
Forensic Mental Health Science, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
M. Hotopf
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, UK
K. Dean
Affiliation:
Forensic Mental Health Science, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
S. McManus
Affiliation:
National Centre for Social Research, London, UK
H. Meltzer
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
T. Brugha
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
R. Jenkins
Affiliation:
WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Section of Mental Health Policy, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
S. Wessely
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, UK
N. T. Fear*
Affiliation:
Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King's College London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr N. T. Fear, Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King's College, London, UK. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

There is concern surrounding the psychological health and uptake of treatment services among veterans of the UK Armed Forces.

Method

Data from a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample were used to compare health outcomes and treatment seeking among 257 post-national service veterans aged 16–64 years and 504 age and sex frequency-matched non-veterans living in the community in England. Early leavers (<4 years service) were compared with longer serving veterans.

Results

Male veterans reported more childhood adversity and were more likely to have experienced a major trauma in adulthood than non-veterans. There was no association between any measure of mental health and veteran status in males, except reporting more violent behaviours [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–2.06]. In females, a significant association was found between veteran status and ever having suicidal thoughts (aOR 2.82, 95% CI 1.13–7.03). No differences in treatment-seeking behaviour were identified between veterans and non-veterans with any mental disorder. Early service leavers were more likely to be heavy drinkers (aOR 4.16, 95% CI 1.08–16.00), to have had suicidal thoughts (aOR 2.37, 95% CI 1.21–4.66) and to have self-harmed (aOR 12.36, 95% CI 1.61–94.68) than longer serving veterans.

Conclusions

The findings of this study do not suggest that being a veteran is associated with adversity in terms of mental health, social disadvantage or reluctance to seek treatment compared with the general population. Some evidence implies that early service leavers may experience more mental health problems than longer-serving veterans.

Keywords

Mental healthmilitarypost-national servicetreatment-seekingveteran
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , February 2011 , pp. 363 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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