Health Profile of Danish Army Personnel

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to delineate a health profile of professional Danish army personnel. Two-hundred twenty officers, noncommissioned officers, and gunners on active duty at Varde Barracks, housing the South Jutland Artillery Regiment and the Danish Army Artillery School, were asked about their physical and psychological health, interpersonal relations, and working conditions as well as their dietary, drinking, and smoking habits. Measurements were made of resting pulse rate, blood pressure, height, weight, waist and hip girth, and pulmonary function. The ratio of waist-to-hip girth and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. Psychological well-being was evaluated using the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Psychosomatic symptoms were frequently reported, but very few of those surveyed appeared to have psychiatric disorders as measured by the GHQ. Also, somatic health problems were frequently reported, the most frequent being lower-back pain, mild chest pain, and sensory disorders. Differences in interpretation and reporting of "lasting health problems" may explain the relatively high score for this question. The interpersonal relations, both upward and downward in the hierarchy rank order, received high scores. Compared with the general population, alcohol consumption was very low, whereas smoking-in particular heavy smoking-was much more frequent among professional Danish army personnel. Lung function testing showed significantly poorer mean values of forced expiratory volume in 1st second of expiration and mean forced expiratory flow 25 to 75% of forced vital capacity among smokers compared with nonsmokers, although the mean values for the whole group of both smokers and nonsmokers were well above reference values for all lung function parameters. The frequency of moderately overweight individuals (25 < BMI < or = 30) was significantly higher among the male army personnel than in the general population, whereas this was not the case for obesity (BMI > 30). Abdominal obesity, regarded as an independent risk factor for the development of ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and all-cause mortality, was present in 5%, and 3% belonged to the highest-risk group by having a low BMI as well as abdominal obesity.