Veterans serving for a long duration in the Armed Forces have a lower risk of early mortality, a study published in the journal Occupational Medicine suggests.
Using data from the Scottish Veterans Health Study, researchers at the University of Glasgow evaluated the long-term mortality risk among Scottish veterans who served between 1960 and 2012, in comparison with individuals without any military service.
Although the overall risk did not differ between the veterans and non-veterans, those with >12 years of service had an 18 per cent lower mortality risk compared with their non-serving counterparts of the same age. Those who served for the shortest period had a 15 per cent higher risk of early mortality, but there was no difference between them and non-veterans when social and economic circumstances likely to reduce life expectancy were accounted for. Veterans who died had an 18 per cent higher likelihood of having a smoking-related health condition than non-veterans.
The phenomenon of ‘healthy worker effect’, i.e. lower risk of early death among people longer in employment is well known; however, very few studies had investigated it among military personnel. Dr Beverly Bergman, the lead author said: "This is an important study which provides further reassurance that longer military service is beneficial to health."