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Cited by 153Occupational Health and PerformanceEducation and Military IntegrationMilitary and Defense Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

An Evaluation of the Effect of Military Service on Mortality: Quantifying the Healthy Soldier Effect

McLaughlin, Ruth, Nielsen, Lisa, Waller, Michael·2008·Annals of Epidemiology
DOI 10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.09.002
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Abstract

Purpose The healthy soldier effect denotes the proposition that military populations are likely to be healthier than other populations. A systematic review was conducted which aimed to quantify the magnitude of the healthy soldier effect.Methods Studies containing mortality rates of military personnel were identified from multiple electronic databases. Studies were included in the meta-analyses if they reported all-cause, cancer, or external-cause mortality in a military population and compared the rates to the general population. Fifty-nine studies were initially identified and 12 were included in the meta-analyses.Results The overall meta-standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for all-cause mortality for deployed veterans was 0.76 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65-0.89) and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.56-1.97) for non-deployed veterans based on a mean follow-up of 7.0 and 2.4 years, respectively; for cancer mortality, the SMRs were 0.78 (95% CI: 0.63-0.98) for deployed veterans and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.50-1.14) for non-deployed veterans based on 6.7 and 3.1 years follow-up, respectively; for external-cause mortality, the SMRs were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72-1.13) for deployed veterans and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.63-1.01) for non-deployed veterans based on 4.8 and 2.0 years follow-up, respectively.Conclusion Military personnel do display a healthy soldier effect that decreases their risk of mortality compared to the general population. The overall healthy soldier effect estimated ranges from 10% to 25%, depending on the cause of death studied and the period of follow-up.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.09.002

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Metadata

Authors
McLaughlin, R., Nielsen, L., & Waller, M.
Affiliations
The University of Queensland (AU)
Corresponding author
McLaughlin, Ruth
ORCID
Venue
Annals of Epidemiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-12
Volume
18
Issue
12
Pages
928-936
ISSN
1047-2797 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.09.002
OpenAlex
W1999317474
Cited by
153
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 7
FWCI
11.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
erratum (2015-02-01)
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Annals of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Occupational Health and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Education › Education and Military Integration
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Military and Defense Studies
Keywords
military personnel, mortality, cancer mortality, external causes of death, all-cause mortality, standardized mortality ratio, military health
MeSH terms
Australia, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Military Personnel, Mortality, Neoplasms, Regression Analysis, United States, Veterans, Models, Statistical, Cohort Studies, Epidemiologic Studies

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