6, 7 However, not all studies suggest that deployment has an adverse effect on physical health. 3, – 5 Additionally, some studies have shown that combat deployment is associated with greater health risks, whereas service members deployed to noncombat zones have a similar risk as service members who have not deployed. A number of studies performed on the basis of the Millennium Cohort Study have found that, compared to nondeployed veterans, veterans with a history of combat exposure have higher rates of respiratory conditions, 2 and experience greater weight gain. However, these studies have varied widely with respect to methodology, and their findings are equivocal. Previous studies have examined the impact of deployment on veterans' health.
Given the scope of this issue, there is substantial interest in the impact of deployment on the health of military service members. Since 2001, around 2.7 million service members have deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND), and their deployments have been longer and more frequently repeated than in previous wars. Military deployments are chronically stressful situations that may affect the health of service members as well as their families. These results suggest the importance of monitoring health during and postdeployment, and of finding ways to mitigate the adverse impact of deployment on health in both members of military couples. Conclusion: Longer deployments are associated with health-related markers in military veterans as well as their spouses. There was no significant effect of combat exposure in these models. There was a significant gender by deployment length interaction effect on MAP ratio, such that longer deployments were associated with higher MAP ratios in female spouses. Results: Longer deployment length was associated with higher CRP levels in veterans and their spouses, although this effect became nonsignificant when limiting analyses to individuals with CRP ≤10 mg/L. Regression models examined the association between deployment length and each outcome in the combined sample of veterans and their spouses, including tests of interactions between gender and deployment length, controlling for age, gender, waist circumference, current PTSD, and combat exposure. Participants also completed 48 hours of BP monitoring for calculation of mean arterial pressure (MAP) during wakefulness and sleep, and sleep/wake MAP ratio, as an indicator BP nondipping. Plasma measures of inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), were collected from veterans and spouses. Veterans reported about their deployment and military experiences, including deployment length, combat exposure, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
Materials and Methods: This study includes 32 male veterans and 29 female civilian partners. This study aims to examine the association between deployment length and health, including ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and stress-related markers of inflammation, in military veterans and their spouses. However, few studies have examined the impact of deployments on health outcomes in both veterans and their partners. Introduction: Changes in the frequency, duration, and nature of military deployments over the past 14 years have spurred efforts to understand the effects of deployment on the health of military service members and their spouses.
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