title: Risk of adverse health outcomes associated with frequency and duration of deployment with the Australian Defence Force.
abstract: The operational tempo of the Australian Defence Force has increased over the last two decades. We examine the relationship between health of personnel and the frequency and duration of their deployment. Self-reported health measures (number of symptoms, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist) were compared for people who had never deployed to those who had deployed only once and for those who had deployed at least twice with at least one deployment to East Timor and one deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq. Comparisons were also made between people who had deployed for at least one month and those who had deployed for longer periods. Frequency of deployment but not duration of deployment was associated with poorer health.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston Road, Herston QLD 4006, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bleier
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McFarlane
authors.forename: Annabel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Treloar
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dobson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D049648:Timor-Leste; D055815:Young Adult