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Are common mental disorders more prevalent in the UK serving military compared to the general working population?
- Source :
- Psychological Medicine; Jul2015, Vol. 45 Issue 9, p1881-1891, 11p
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- BackgroundAlthough the military is considered to be a stressful occupation, there are remarkably few studies that compare the prevalence of common mental disorder (CMD) between the military and the general population. This study examined the prevalence of probable CMD in a serving UK military sample compared to a general population sample of employed individuals.MethodData for the general population was from the 2003 and 2008 collections for the Health Survey for England (HSE) and for the serving military from phases 1 (2004–2006) and 2 (2007–2009) of the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) cohort study. Probable CMD was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The datasets were appended to calculate the odds of CMD in the military compared to the general population.ResultsThe odds of probable CMD was approximately double in the military, when comparing phase 1 of the military study to the 2003 HSE [odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1–2.7], and phase 2 to the 2008 HSE (OR 2.3, 95% CI 2.0–2.6) after adjustment for sex, age, social class, education and marital status.ConclusionsServing military personnel are more likely to endorse symptoms of CMD compared to those selected from a general population study as employed in other occupations, even after accounting for demographic characteristics. This difference may be partly explained by the context of the military study, with evidence from previous research for higher reports of symptoms from the GHQ in occupational compared to population studies, in addition to the role of predisposing characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- PSYCHIATRIC epidemiology
COMPARATIVE studies
CONFIDENCE intervals
LONGITUDINAL method
MILITARY research
POPULATION geography
QUESTIONNAIRES
RESEARCH funding
STATISTICAL sampling
PSYCHOLOGY of military personnel
SURVEYS
MATHEMATICAL variables
LOGISTIC regression analysis
EDUCATIONAL attainment
MILITARY service
RESEARCH bias
CROSS-sectional method
DATA analysis software
ODDS ratio
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00332917
- Volume :
- 45
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Psychological Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 102874005
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714002980