King's Centre for Military Health Research, Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
King's Centre for Military Health Research, Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
BMJ Open. 2021 Aug 27;11(8):e049815. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049815.
To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of UK ex-service personnel (veterans) before and during the pandemic, and to assess associations of COVID-19 experiences and stressors with mental health, alcohol use and loneliness.
An additional wave of data was collected from a longitudinal cohort study of the UK Armed Forces.
Online survey June-September 2020.
Cohort members were included if they had completed a questionnaire at phase 3 of the King's Centre for Military Health Research health and well-being study (2014-2016), had left the Armed Forces after regular service, were living in the UK, had consented to follow-up and provided a valid email address. Invitation emails were sent to N=3547 with a 44% response rate (n=1562).
Common mental health disorders (CMDs) (measured using the General Health Questionnaire, 12 items-cut-off ≥4), hazardous alcohol use (measured using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, 10 items-cut off ≥8) and loneliness (University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale- 3 items-cut-off ≥6).
Veterans reported a statistically significant decrease in hazardous drinking of 48.5% to 27.6%, while CMD remained stable (non-statistically significant increase of 24.5% to 26.1%). 27.4% of veterans reported feelings of loneliness. The COVID-19 stressors of reporting difficulties with family/social relationships, boredom and difficulties with health were statistically significantly associated with CMD, hazardous drinking and loneliness, even after adjustment for previous mental health/hazardous alcohol use.
Our study suggests a COVID-19 impact on veterans' mental health, alcohol use and loneliness, particularly for those experiencing difficulties with family relationships. Veterans experienced the pandemic in similar ways to the general population and in some cases may have responded in resilient ways. While stable levels of CMD and reduction in alcohol use are positive, there remains a group of veterans who may need mental health and alcohol treatment services.
调查 COVID-19 大流行对英国退役军人（退伍军人）健康和福祉的影响，以及 COVID-19 经历和压力源与心理健康、饮酒和孤独之间的关联。
对英国武装部队一项纵向队列研究进行了额外的一轮数据收集。
2020 年 6 月至 9 月在线调查。
如果他们在国王军事健康研究中心健康和福祉研究的第 3 阶段（2014-2016 年）完成了问卷调查，在常规服役后离开武装部队，居住在英国，同意随访并提供有效电子邮件地址，则纳入队列成员。向 N=3547 名参与者发送了邀请电子邮件，回复率为 44%（n=1562）。
常见精神障碍（CMD）（使用 12 项一般健康问卷，临界值≥4）、危险饮酒（使用酒精使用障碍识别测试，10 项临界值≥8）和孤独感（加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校，孤独感量表-3 项临界值≥6）。
退伍军人报告危险饮酒量从 48.5%显著下降到 27.6%，而 CMD 保持稳定（非统计学意义上增加 24.5%至 26.1%）。27.4%的退伍军人报告感到孤独。与家庭/社会关系困难、无聊和健康问题有关的 COVID-19 压力源与 CMD、危险饮酒和孤独感有统计学显著关联，即使在调整了先前的心理健康/危险饮酒使用后也是如此。
我们的研究表明 COVID-19 对退伍军人的心理健康、饮酒和孤独感有影响，特别是对那些与家庭关系困难的退伍军人。退伍军人以与一般人群相似的方式经历了大流行，在某些情况下可能以有弹性的方式做出了反应。虽然 CMD 水平稳定和饮酒量减少是积极的，但仍有一部分退伍军人可能需要心理健康和酒精治疗服务。
