Prevalence of common mental health disorders in military veterans: using primary healthcare data

Abstract

IntroductionServing 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.MethodsThis 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.Result2449 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).ConclusionThe 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.

Depression among Armed Police Force Soldiers Serving in a Police Headquarter: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…In our study, male soldiers had a higher risk of depression which is in contrast to findings from other similar studies. 15 , 17 This might be because the female soldiers in our study were more convenient in sharing their problems with their female colleagues. Also, the depression rate was greater in the higher age group of soldiers.…”

Nursing care for the military veteran and their family

“…Another advantage is that improved veteran registration means that the level of clinical disorders in the veteran population can be extracted from PHC medical records. However, these intentions are impeded as the number of veterans correctly registered in 2021 was under 10% (Finnegan & Randles, 2022). Patients are not often asked whether they have ever served in the Armed Forces and recording of veteran status was rarely documented or coded which makes identifying this population particularly difficult (Finnegan & Randles, 2022).…”

“…However, these intentions are impeded as the number of veterans correctly registered in 2021 was under 10% (Finnegan & Randles, 2022). Patients are not often asked whether they have ever served in the Armed Forces and recording of veteran status was rarely documented or coded which makes identifying this population particularly difficult (Finnegan & Randles, 2022). Many PHC nurses were often unaware how many veterans are registered within their practice.…”

“…Armed Forces personnel risk their lives in defence of their country, whilst their families are exposed to regular changes in location and spending long periods apart. Many veterans have witnessed dreadful incidents, including the death of friends and civilians of all ages and have a high prevalence of common mental health (MH) disorders (Finnegan & Randles, 2022). They are embedded in the fabric of society; for example, in the United Kingdom, there are an estimated 2 M veterans, and in the USA, 25 M. These figures can be multiplied by four to indicate the number of the wider Armed Forces Community (AFC) of serving personnel, veterans and their families.…”

The Veteran Friendly Practice accreditation programme: a mixed-methods evaluation

“…6,7 Additionally, some veterans are unaware of the potential health and social care benefits of disclosing their ex-armed forces status to their GP; 8 only approximately 8% of veterans are registered under the correct Read or SNOMED code. [8][9][10] PHC staff can positively change health behaviour patterns, but there is a lack of knowledge among them regarding veterans. 8,9 GPs are often unaware how many veterans are registered with their practice and may require more guidance on how to meet the needs of their veteran patients.…”