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

• Published in: BMJ military health Vol. 169; no. 6; pp. 523 - 528
• Main Authors: Finnegan, Alan, Randles, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 01.12.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Age groups; Alcohol; Alzheimer's disease; Anxiety; Armed forces; Codes; Dementia; Drug abuse; Female; Gender; Health services; Humans; Male; Marital status; Medical records; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Original Research; Post traumatic stress disorder; Prevalence; primary care; Primary Health Care; public health; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Veterans; Veterans - psychology; United Kingdom > UK; England; primary care; mental health; public health
• ISSN: 2633-3767; 2633-3775
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjmilitary-2021-002045

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.