Demographic, physical, and mental health factors associated with deployment of US army soldiers to the Persian Gulf

A total of 675,626 active duty Army soldiers who were known to be at risk f or deployment to the Persian Gulf were followed from 1980 through the Persi an Gulf War. Hospitalization histories for the entire cohort and Health Ris k Appraisal surveys for a subset of 374 soldiers were used to evaluate prew ar distress, health, and behaviors, Deployers were less likely to have had any prewar hospitalizations or hospitalization for a condition commonly rep orted among Gulf War veterans or to report experiences of depression/suicid al ideation, Deployers reported greater satisfaction with life and relation ships but displayed greater tendencies toward risk-taking, such as drunk dr iving, speeding, and failure to wear safety belts. Deployed veterans were m ore likely to receive hazardous duty pay and to be hospitalized for an inju ry than nondeployed Gulf War-era veterans. If distress is a predictor of po stwar morbidity, it is likely attributable to experiences occurring during or after the war and not related to prewar exposures or health status. Post war excess injury risk may be explained in part by a propensity for greater risk-taking, which was evident before and persisted throughout the war.