title: Military service and mental health in later life.
abstract: This study sought to determine if the self-assessed mental health of older, community-dwelling veterans differs from that of older nonveterans controlling for known demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical covariates of health and well-being. Participants are the older male respondents (65+ years) to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (Round 1), conducted in 1996 (N = 1,068). In bivariable analyses using population weights, veterans were significantly less likely than nonveterans to report their mental health as fair to poor. However, when demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics were controlled, no statistically significant difference in self-assessed mental health was detected between veterans and nonveterans. Military service per se is not a risk factor for poorer self-appraised mental health in old age. Nor does military service confer protection from late-life deficits in mental health. Rather, mental health in later life is largely a function of an individual's health and socioeconomic status.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Promotion, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*