Prospective Assessment of Health-Related Functioning Among Deployed U.S. Army Active Duty and National Guard Soldiers

This prospective study examined whether combat deployment differentially affected physical health–related functioning in U.S. Army National Guard (NG) versus Active Duty (AD) soldiers. Data collected in person at pre- and postdeployment assessments of 615 U.S. Army AD (n = 517) and NG (n = 98) male participants from infantry-type units deployed to the Iraq War were analyzed via linear mixed effects models. NG soldiers demonstrated significantly more adverse changes in physical health–related functioning than did AD soldiers. The adjusted Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey Physical Component Summary (PCS) score decreased 5% for NG versus 1% for AD from pre- to postdeployment. Adjustment for post-traumatic stress symptom severity did not alter these results.