Cigarette smoking patterns among U.S. military service members before and after separation from the military.

U.S. military Service members have consistently smoked more than the general population and the prevalence of smoking is even higher among U.

Smoking Among U.S. Service Members Following Transition From Military to Veteran Status.

Smoking rates among U.S. Service members and veterans have been consistently higher than in civilian populations.

Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Physical Activity Among U.S. Military Service Members in the Millennium Cohort Study.

Sexual harassment (SH) and sexual assault (SA) continue to be a focus of prevention efforts in the U.S. military because of the prevalence and potential to affect the health and readiness of service members.

Comparing self-reported physical activity and sedentary time to objective fitness measures in a military cohort.

Objectives: Regular vigorous physical activity (PA) and high levels of physical fitness (PF) confer health benefits. Conversely, sedentary time is a risk factor for chronic illness, independent of PA. We evaluated associations between self-reported PA, sedentary time, and objective PF measures in military Service members.

Longitudinal Assessment of Self-Reported Recent Back Pain and Combat Deployment in the Millennium Cohort Study.

Study Design: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: Activities performed during military operations vary in complexity and physical demand. The risk for mental illness following military combat deployment has been well documented.

The Epidemiology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the US Military: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study.

Objectives: Functional gastrointestinal disorders occur more frequently among deployed veterans, although studies evaluating the relative impact of risk factors, including stress and antecedent infectious gastroenteritis (IGE), are limited. We examined risk factors for new-onset irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among active duty participants in the military's Millennium Cohort Study.

Methods: Medical encounter data from 2001 to 2009, limited to Cohort members on active duty, were used to identify incident IBS cases (any and highly probable).

Hearing loss associated with US military combat deployment.

The objective of this study was to define the risk of hearing loss among US military members in relation to their deployment experiences. Data were drawn from the Millennium Cohort Study. Self-reported data and objective military service data were used to assess exposures and outcomes.

Chronic multisymptom illness: a comparison of Iraq and Afghanistan deployers with veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

Symptoms and illnesses reported by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War era are a cause of potential concern for those military members who have deployed to the Gulf region in support of more recent contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the present study, we quantified self-reported symptoms from participants in the Millennium Cohort Study, a prospective study representing all US service branches, including both active duty and Reserve/National Guard components (2001-2008). Self-reported symptoms were uniquely compared with those in a cohort of subjects from the 1991 Gulf War to gain context for the present report.

Deployment-related depression screening, 2001-2008: comparing clinical versus research surveys.

Background: Potential adverse mental health effects of deployment, including depression, are an ongoing concern. Although a previous study assessed under-reporting of depression on post-deployment health assessments compared to anonymous surveys, those results were not examined at the individual level to identify demographic or military factors that may be associated with unwillingness to report depression symptoms.

Purpose: To compare self-reported depression symptoms on post-deployment health assessments with responses to the same depression questions on a research survey.

Relative cost-effectiveness of a norovirus vaccine in the deployed military setting compared to a vaccine against Campylobacter sp., ETEC, and Shigella sp.

Norovirus (NoV) has been identified as a significant cause of acute gastrointestinal illness among deployed military troops. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis for the use of a NoV vaccine in the military using a previously developed model that evaluated vaccines for ETEC, Campylobacter, and Shigella for prevention of non-outbreak associated travelers' diarrhea. Under conservative assumptions, acquisition of a NoV vaccine by the Department of Defense is estimated to result in a cost-effectiveness ratio per duty day lost to illness (CERDDL) of $1344 compared to a CERDDL of $776, $800, and $1275 for ETEC, Campylobacter sp.

Sleep characteristics, mental health, and diabetes risk: a prospective study of U.S. military service members in the Millennium Cohort Study.

Objective: Research has suggested that a higher risk of type 2 diabetes associated with sleep characteristics exists. However, studies have not thoroughly assessed the potential confounding effects of mental health conditions associated with alterations in sleep.

Research Design And Methods: We prospectively assessed the association between sleep characteristics and self-reported incident diabetes among Millennium Cohort Study participants prospectively followed over a 6-year time period.

Predeployment Sleep Duration and Insomnia Symptoms as Risk Factors for New-Onset Mental Health Disorders Following Military Deployment.

Study Objectives: To evaluate predeployment sleep duration and insomnia symptoms in relation to the development of mental health symptoms.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: The Millennium Cohort Study survey is administered via a secure website or US mail.

Is military deployment a risk factor for maternal depression?

Background: Maternal depression is a common condition among new mothers that can be associated with poor maternal health and negative consequences on infant health. Little research has been conducted to examine maternal depression, especially among military mothers, where unique conditions often exist. Using data from a large military cohort, this study prospectively examined the relationship between deployment experience before and after childbirth and maternal depression among U.

Prospective evaluation of mental health and deployment experience among women in the US military.

Previous research has shown that military women often experience potentially severe health outcomes following deployment. Data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a 21-year longitudinal study examining the health effects of military service, were used to examine this issue. In longitudinal analyses (2001-2008) carried out among US military women (n = 17,481), the authors examined positive screens for depression, anxiety, panic, and posttraumatic stress disorder in relation to deployment in support of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while adjusting for relevant baseline and time-varying covariates.

Prospective assessment of chronic multisymptom illness reporting possibly associated with open-air burn pit smoke exposure in Iraq.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) and possible exposure to an open-air burn pit at three selected bases among those deployed to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods: Chronic multisymptom illness (reporting at least one symptom in at least two of the following symptom constructs: general fatigue; mood and cognition problems; and musculoskeletal discomfort) was assessed, differentiating by potential burn pit exposure, among deployers who completed 2004 and 2007 Millennium Cohort questionnaires.

Results: More than 21,000 Cohort participants were deployed in support of the current operations, including more than 3000 participants with at least one deployment within a 3-mile radius of a documented burn pit.

Trajectories of trauma symptoms and resilience in deployed U.S. military service members: prospective cohort study.

Background: Most previous attempts to determine the psychological cost of military deployment have been limited by reliance on convenience samples, lack of pre-deployment data or confidentiality and cross-sectional designs.

Aims: This study addressed these limitations using a population-based, prospective cohort of U.S.

A comparison of mental health outcomes in persons entering U.S. military service before and after September 11, 2001.

It has been hypothesized that those who entered military service in the pre-September 11, 2001 era might have expectations incongruent with their subsequent experiences, increasing the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental disorders. A subset of Millennium Cohort Study participants who joined the military during 1995-1999 was selected and compared with a subset of members who joined the military in 2002 or later. Outcomes included new-onset symptoms of PTSD, depression, panic/anxiety, and alcohol-related problems.

Preinjury psychiatric status, injury severity, and postdeployment posttraumatic stress disorder.

Context: Physical injury has been associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous studies have retrospectively examined the relationship of preinjury psychiatric status and postinjury PTSD with conflicting results, but no prospective studies regarding this subject have been conducted, to our knowledge.

Objective: To prospectively assess the relationship of predeployment psychiatric status and injury severity with postdeployment PTSD.

Health impact of US military service in a large population-based military cohort: findings of the Millennium Cohort Study, 2001-2008.

Background: Combat-intense, lengthy, and multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have characterized the new millennium. The US military's all-volunteer force has never been better trained and technologically equipped to engage enemy combatants in multiple theaters of operations. Nonetheless, concerns over potential lasting effects of deployment on long-term health continue to mount and are yet to be elucidated.

Sleep patterns before, during, and after deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Study Objectives: To determine the associations between deployment in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sleep quantity and quality.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study

Setting: The Millennium Cohort Study survey is administered via a secure website or US mail.

Participants: Data were from 41,225 Millennium Cohort members who completed baseline (2001-2003) and follow-up (2004-2006) surveys.

Exploratory factor analysis of self-reported symptoms in a large, population-based military cohort.

Background: US military engagements have consistently raised concern over the array of health outcomes experienced by service members postdeployment. Exploratory factor analysis has been used in studies of 1991 Gulf War-related illnesses, and may increase understanding of symptoms and health outcomes associated with current military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The objective of this study was to use exploratory factor analysis to describe the correlations among numerous physical and psychological symptoms in terms of a smaller number of unobserved variables or factors.

Early mortality experience in a large military cohort and a comparison of mortality data sources.

Background: Complete and accurate ascertainment of mortality is critically important in any longitudinal study. Tracking of mortality is particularly essential among US military members because of unique occupational exposures (e.g.