O'Donnell J C
National Center for Health Promotion, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Mil Med. 2000 Mar;165(3):219-23.
This study sought to determine if the self-assessed mental health of older, community-dwelling veterans differs from that of older nonveterans controlling for known demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical covariates of health and well-being. Participants are the older male respondents (65+ years) to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (Round 1), conducted in 1996 (N = 1,068). In bivariable analyses using population weights, veterans were significantly less likely than nonveterans to report their mental health as fair to poor. However, when demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics were controlled, no statistically significant difference in self-assessed mental health was detected between veterans and nonveterans. Military service per se is not a risk factor for poorer self-appraised mental health in old age. Nor does military service confer protection from late-life deficits in mental health. Rather, mental health in later life is largely a function of an individual's health and socioeconomic status.
本研究旨在确定居住在社区的老年退伍军人自我评估的心理健康状况与老年非退伍军人相比是否存在差异，同时控制已知的人口统计学、社会经济以及健康和幸福方面的临床协变量。研究对象为1996年进行的医疗支出小组调查（第一轮）中年龄较大的男性受访者（65岁及以上）（N = 1068）。在使用人口权重的双变量分析中，退伍军人报告其心理健康为一般或较差的可能性显著低于非退伍军人。然而，当控制了人口统计学、社会经济和健康相关特征后，退伍军人与非退伍军人在自我评估的心理健康方面未发现统计学上的显著差异。就其本身而言，服兵役并非老年期自我评估心理健康较差的风险因素。服兵役也不会使人免受晚年心理健康缺陷的影响。相反，晚年的心理健康在很大程度上是个人健康和社会经济地位的函数。
