Loading...
Prevalence of common mental health disorders in military veterans: using primary healthcare data
Finnegan, Alan Randles, Rebecca
Finnegan, Alan
Randles, Rebecca
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Affiliation
EPub Date
Publication Date
2022-01-18
Submitted Date
Collections
Files
Loading...
Article
Adobe PDF, 219.59 KB
Other Titles
Abstract
Introduction Serving military personnel and military veterans have been identified as having a high prevalence of mental disorders. Since 1985, UK patients’ primary healthcare (PHC) medical records contain Read Codes (now being replaced by Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) codes) that mark characteristics such as diagnosis, ethnicity and therapeutic interventions. This English study accesses a cohort profile of British Armed Forces veterans to examine the diagnosed common mental disorders by using PHC records.
Methods This analysis has been drawn from initiatives with PHC practices in the Northwest of England to increase veteran registration in general practice. Demographic data were collected including gender, age and marital status. Data were also collected on common mental health disorders associated with the Armed Forces.
Result 2449 veteran PHC records were analysed. 38% (N=938) of veterans in this cohort had a code on their medical record for common mental health disorders. The highest disorder prevalence was depression (17.8%, N=437), followed by alcohol misuse (17.3%, N=423) and anxiety (15.0%, N=367). Lower disorder prevalence was seen across post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (3.4%, N=83), dementia (1.8%, N=45) and substance misuse (0.8%, N=19). Female veterans had a higher prevalence of mental disorders than their male counterparts, while men a higher prevalence of PTSD; however, the gender difference in the latter was not significant (p>0.05).
Conclusion The SNOMED searches do not detail why certain groups had higher recordings of certain disorders. A future study that accesses the PHC written medical notes would prove enlightening to specifically identify what situational factors are having the most impact on the veteran population. The results from a sizeable English veteran population provide information that should be considered in developing veteran-specific clinical provision, educational syllabus and policy.
Citation
Finnegan, A, & Randles R. (2023). Prevalence of common mental health disorders in military veterans: Using primary healthcare data. BMJ Military Health, 169(6), 523-528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjmilitary-2021-002045
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal
BMJ Military Health
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
Description
This article has been accepted for publication in [BMJ Military Health, 2022] following peer review, and the Version of Record can be accessed online at [http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjmilitary-2021-002045]. © Authors (or their employer(s).
Series/Report no.
ISSN
2633-3767
EISSN
2633-3775