title: Does deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan affect respiratory health of US military personnel?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between postdeployment respiratory conditions and deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  We linked deployment history of US military personnel with postdeployment medical records. We then conducted a nested case-control study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to a single deployment, multiple deployments were not significantly associated with obstructive pulmonary disease (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.42). Cumulative time deployed was also not significantly associated with obstructive pulmonary disease. Nevertheless, we did note that the rate of respiratory symptoms and encounters for obstructive pulmonary diseases (predominantly asthma and bronchitis) increased from before to after deployment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a population of active duty US military personnel, we observed an increase in postdeployment respiratory symptoms and medical encounters for obstructive pulmonary diseases, relative to predeployment rates, in the absence of an association with cumulative deployment duration or total number of deployments.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Medicine Program, US Army Public Health Command (Provisional), 5158 Black Hawk Rd., Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Samar F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: DeBakey
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Joey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Coleen P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Baird
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult