{
  "abstract": "Background There are 2 million veterans in the UK. A veteran is defined as anyone with at least one day of military service. Research has focused on mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with fewer reports on physical health. This study estimated the prevalence of 345 health conditions in UK veterans and compared them to matched civilian controls.Methods Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care records were used to conduct a cross-sectional study on 31/12/2022. Veterans were identified and matched with controls by age, sex, practice, and ethnicity. Prevalence rates were calculated for each condition, then compared using modified Poisson regression, adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Analysis was conducted using Python and R. Ethical approval was obtained from the CPRD Independent Scientific Advisory Committee.Results 68,715 veterans were identified and matched with 250,736 controls. The veteran cohort was 80% male, 88% white, with a mean age of 53.7 years, representing 3.4% of UK veterans. Of 345 conditions, 295 (males) and 270 (females) were analysed after censoring counts lower than 10. Over 60% of conditions showed significantly higher prevalence in veterans. PTSD was markedly elevated (males: aRR 8.98, 95% CI 8.35–8.94; females: aRR 2.95, 95% CI 2.53–3.44). Common mental health disorders, chronic pain, musculoskeletal injuries, and osteoarthritis were also significantly more prevalent in veterans, while most cancers, respiratory, and cardiometabolic conditions showed no significant difference.Conclusion This was the largest study of UK veterans and reports prevalence rates for 345 health conditions. Veterans were more likely to report 60% of these conditions. Veterans may require targeted health intervention, surveillance, and further preventative work by the Defence Medical Services and MOD.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Ben Hammond"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Academic Department of Military General Practice (ADMGP), Defence Medical Services, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Jacob Matthews"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK",
        "NIHR, Blood and Transplant Research Unit (BTRU) in Precision Transplant and, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Samuel Cusworth"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Illin Gani"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK",
        "Department of Applied Health, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Neil Cockburn"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Shamil Haroon"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P07-5 Prevalence of 345 Common health conditions in UK veterans compared to matched controls: a cross-sectional study using primary care data",
  "uid": "9b3fb370-5aa5-5953-be40-de12c40ef954"
}