title: Predictors of completing compulsory military service among men who have received a temporary exemption from service.
abstract: Military or alternative civilian service is obligatory for all Finnish male citizens. About 70% of each annual age cohort carry out this service. The rest are given either a permanent or temporary exemption from military or civil service. The aim of this study was to investigate predictors associated with completing military service after having once been given a temporary exemption from service. The study sample consisted of 245 men who were exempted temporarily from service. The data were collected through questionnaires and register data. During the 5-year follow-up, only 21 men had completed the service following a previous temporary exemption. Completing military service was associated with an exemption based on a somatic diagnosis, having no suicidal ideation in the past, no history of parental divorce, and having physical exercise at least once a week. The results of this study support the idea of preferring to give a permanent exemption instead of a temporary exemption. However, this trend runs the risk of discharging men who could be capable of later completing the service successfully.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, P.O. Box 30, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kaija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Appelqvist-Schmidlechner
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Parkkola
authors.forename: Eija
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stengård
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires