title: Mental health of UK Armed Forces medical personnel post-deployment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mental health effects of deployment vary widely, and personnel in both combat and combat support roles, including medical personnel, may be adversely affected.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the mental health of deployed UK military medical staff in both forward and rear locations and to compare these two groups with other deployed military personnel.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were medics who had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan and provided information about their deployed role, experiences during and on return from deployment and demographic and military factors. Health outcomes included common mental health problems (using 12-item General Health Questionnaire), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, using 17-item Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version), multiple physical symptoms and alcohol use (using 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample comprised 321 medical personnel. The response rate was 56%. The mental health outcomes for forward located medics (FMs) were no different than those for rear located medics (RLMs). When comparing FMs and RLMs against all other military roles, a small but significant increase in PTSD symptoms in FMs was found. FMs were more likely to rate their work while deployed as being above their skills and experience, report exposure to more combat experiences and report a more challenging homecoming experience than RLMs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that while the overall rates of self-reported mental health disorders were similar in FMs and RLMs, FMs reported more PTSD symptoms than all other roles, which may have been related to working in more hostile environments in more challenging roles while deployed and their experiences on returning home.
authors.affiliation: Human Systems Group, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Portsdown West PO17 6AD, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cawkill
authors.affiliation: King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 9RJ, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 9RJ, UK.
authors.forename: N T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Fear
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 9RJ, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Mental Health, Tidworth SP9 7EA, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fertout
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 9RJ, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wessely
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 9RJ, UK, neil.greenberg@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Mental health; military medics; operational deployment