The psychological morbidity of military healthcare workers.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the probable prevalence of psychological morbidity in military healthcare professionals using the General Health Questionnaire 28.


RESULTS
21 (35%) of military healthcare workers showed psychological ill health. Royal Air Force health staff had a significantly higher prevalence of ill health than both the Army [12 (63%) vs 6 (23%)] and the Royal Navy [12 (63%) vs 1 (8%)]. RAF non-commissioned staff were found to have a highly significant prevalence of ill health compared to the Army non-commissioned staff [7(70%) vs 1 (7%)], and Royal Navy non-commissioned staff [7 (70%) vs 0 (0%)].


CONCLUSIONS
The study shows significant differences in psychological ill health between Services at the RCDM. Comparison with civilian data showed that the overall prevalence of psychological morbidity was no higher than in NHS staff. The elevated level of ill health in the Royal Air Force staff warrants further investigation and possible intervention.
Burden
James I F
JI
Royal Navy.
Jeffery
Samuel M T
SM
Leach
A Jonathan
AJ
D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008889:Military Personnel; D009017:Morbidity; D009326:Naval Medicine; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires