UK Armed Forces - Psychological Health and Deployment.

摘要

Background: Concerns have been raised about the psychological effect of continued combat exposure and of repeated deployments. We examined the consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of UK Armed Forces from 2003 to 2010 and the effect of multiple deployments. Methods: We assessed the prevalence of probable mental disorders in four samples of participants. (1) an post deployment initial study (2003 05) (2) a further post deployment study (including a follow up of the initial sample) (2007-2009) (3) a sample of troops deployed to Iraq (2009) and (4) a sample of troops deployed to Afghanistan (2010). Samples 1 and 2 were randomly chosen samples to ensure that they were wholly representative of the UK Armed Forces. All participants completed a questionnaire about their deployment experiences and health outcomes.