title: Going to war does not have to hurt: preliminary findings from the British deployment to Iraq.
abstract: We carried out a brief longitudinal mental health screen of 254 members of the UK's Air Assault Brigade before and after deployment to Iraq last year. Analysis of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scores before and after deployment revealed a lower score after deployment (mean difference=0.93, 95% CI 0.35-1.52). This indicated a highly significant relative improvement in mental health (P < 0.005). Moreover, only 9 of a larger sample of 421 (2%) exceeded cut-off criteria on the Trauma Screening Questionnaire. These findings suggest that war is not necessarily bad for psychological health.
authors.affiliation: Defence Medical Services, Department of Community Mental Health, Colchester, UK. j.hacker-hughes@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jamie Hacker
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eldridge
authors.forename: Madeleine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Devon
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wessely
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D047830:Gulf War; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology