Hazardous or harmful alcohol use in Royal Australian Navy veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: identification of high risk subgroups.
Elevated alcohol use disorders have been observed in 1991 Gulf War veterans from a variety of countries. This study used a self-report instrument, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), to ascertain whether any subgroups of 1232 male Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Gulf War veterans were at higher risk of hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Recursive partitioning/classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, followed by logistic regression, found five subgroups among the veterans, with differing risks of AUDIT caseness. The highest risk subgroup comprised current smokers. The other two high risk groups both consisted of former or never smokers of lower rank who were (1) not married, or (2) married, with a current diagnosis of major depression. The above subgroups were over three times as likely to exhibit AUDIT caseness than those who were former or never smokers of higher rank. The findings have important implications for effective development of public health initiatives designed to encourage safe alcohol use among veterans.
McKenzie
Dean P
DP
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Dean.Mckenzie@med.monash.edu.au
McFarlane
Alexander C
AC
Creamer
Mark
M
Ikin
Jillian F
JF
Forbes
Andrew B
AB
Kelsall
Helen L
HL
Clarke
David M
DM
Glass
Deborah C
DC
Ittak
Peter
P
Sim
Malcolm R
MR
D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D047830:Gulf War; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009326:Naval Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*