Patterns of drinking in the UK Armed Forces

Fear, Nicola T.; Iversen, Amy; Meltzer, Howard; Workman, Lorna; Hull, Lisa; Greenberg, Neil; Barker, Christopher; Browne, Tess; Earnshaw, Mark; Horn, Oded; Jones, Margaret; Murphy, Dominic; Rona, Roberto J.; Hotopf, Matthew; Wessely, Simon

doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01978.x

Cited by 207 publications

(234 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The average alcohol consumption in the Croatian SAF appears to be lower than that reported for other armed forces [2,21,22]. More precisely, only a small percentage of males in the UK Navy reported no binge drinking (only 4%), while our data showed no binge drinking variables among military personal is particularly important [30].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 53%

“…Regardless of the type of service, military occupations are known to be at high risk of several health-hazards, including sexually transmitted diseases, mental health disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and substance use and misuse [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking in the military service are greater than the substance-useand-misuse (SUM) rates in the overall population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Substance use and misuse in the Croatian Army Special Forces: prevalence and influencing factors

Sekulić¹,

Milanović²,

Bok³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

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Objectives: In addition to being a serious health-hazard, substance-use-and-misuse (SUM) in military forces negatively influences physical fitness and army readiness. The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of SUM, which includes cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and multiple SUM (i.e. practice of daily smoking and harmful alcohol drinking), and factors influencing SUM in the Croatian Special Army Forces (SAF). Materials and Methods: We studied 73 SAF members. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to gather socio-demographic and military-professionrelated data, and SUM factors. The associations between studied variables were established by the Chi 2 test, and forward conditional logistic regression (FCLR). Results: With less than 40% of daily smokers, smoking was within expected values. Almost 80% of the examinees reported no binge drinking, while 54% reported harmful drinking according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scale. Paternity and education level were negatively associated with daily smoking, while higher incidence of daily smoking was found for privates and those who practiced harmful drinking (all at p < 0.05). The FCLR demonstrated a higher risk of harmful alcohol consumption for younger commissioned officers (OR for military rank = 5.54, 95% CI: 2.19-13.99; OR for age = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76-0.95). Conclusion: Although SUM incidence was not alarming compared to the overall population and the previously reported military data, additional efforts are necessary in order to decrease cigarette consumption. The study showed that protective/risk structure of the substance misuse in the military should be investigated specifically with regard to particular military services, corps, and socio-cultural environment.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substance use and misuse in the Croatian Army Special Forces: prevalence and influencing factors

Sekulić¹,

Milanović²,

Bok³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

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“…Men are at consistently higher risk of suicide than women throughout the developed world, [19] Women serving in the armed forces may exhibit increased risk-taking behaviours, [23] as do men, [24] and we suggest that this may modify their usual overall reduced risk of suicide to a more 'male' level, although the methods chosen remained gender-specific. The choice of method of suicide varies with gender, culture and availability of method, although the reasons are poorly understood, and both the intended level of lethality and risk of damaging the body appearance have been suggested to explain the reduced likelihood of use of violent methods by women.…”

Section: After Data Cleansing To Remove Incomplete or Invalid Recordsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Suicide in Scottish military veterans: a 30-year retrospective cohort study

Bergman

Mackay

Smith

et al. 2017

Occupational Medicine

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“…Factors that suggest the veteran population mortality rate may exceed that of the general population relate to the tendency for the Armed Forces (particularly the Army) to recruit from areas with greater socio-economic and social deprivation, including lower educational levels, such that they may exhibit more risky behaviours. 14,15 However, while alcohol consumption and misuse has been found to be higher in the UK military than in the general population, 16 the prevalence of smoking has not been found to differ from the general population, 17 nor have suicide rates among military service leavers, except in the youngest age groups (≤ 24 years). 18 Evidence from DASA 19 suggests that veterans of the 1991 Gulf war, and personnel who had served during that time but were not deployed to the Gulf war (Era cohort), have lower disease-related mortality rates between 1991 and 2005 than a comparable UK general population cohort.…”

Section: Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%