OBJECTIVES: To determine whether cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in addition to antispasmodic treatment offers a cost-effective benefit to primary care patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to identify predictors of outcome.

DESIGN: This was a randomised controlled trial in primary care of the addition of CBT to standard general practice management of IBS, using the antispasmodic agent mebeverine hydrochloride. The study set out to compare the addition of a standardised ...

BACKGROUND: Concerns have been raised about the psychological effect of continued combat exposure and of repeated deployments. We examined the consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of UK armed forces from 2003 to 2009, the effect of multiple deployments, and time since return from deployment.

METHODS: We reassessed the prevalence of probable mental disorders in participants of our previous study (2003-05). We also studied two new randomly chosen samples: ...

BACKGROUND: Violent offending by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts is a cause for concern and there is much public debate about the proportion of ex-military personnel in the criminal justice system for violent offences. Although the psychological effects of conflict are well documented, the potential legacy of violent offending has yet to be ascertained. We describe our use of criminal records to investigate the effect of deployment, combat, and post-deployment mental ...

UK Armed Forces (AF) personnel deployed to Afghanistan are frequently exposed to intense combat and yet little is known about the short-term mental health consequences of this exposure and the potential mitigating effects of military factors such as cohesion, morale, and leadership. To assess the possible modulating influence of cohesion, morale, and leadership on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and common mental disorders resulting from combat exposure among UK AF ...

OBJECTIVES: : To assess (a) the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in UK military personnel deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, (b) the risk factors associated with mTBI, and (c) the association between mTBI and subsequent postconcussion symptoms (PCS).

PARTICIPANTS: : A total of 4620 personnel deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan who completed a questionnaire between 2007 and 2009, of whom 2333 were also studied in 2005, participated in the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: : ...

IMPORTANCE: The US Army experienced a sharp increase in soldier suicides beginning in 2004. Administrative data reveal that among those at highest risk are soldiers in the 12 months after inpatient treatment of a psychiatric disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an actuarial risk algorithm predicting suicide in the 12 months after US Army soldier inpatient treatment of a psychiatric disorder to target expanded posthospitalization care.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: There were 53,769 ...

BACKGROUND: Various symptoms in military personnel in the Persian Gulf War 1990-91 have caused international speculation and concern. We investigated UK servicemen.

METHODS: We did a cross-sectional postal survey on a random sample of Gulf War veterans (Gulf War cohort, n=4248) and, stratified for age and rank, servicemen deployed to the Bosnia conflict (Bosnia cohort, n=4250) and those serving during the Gulf War but not deployed there (Era cohort, n=4246). We asked about deployment, ...

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in veterans of the Gulf war with or without unexplained physical disability (a proxy measure of ill health) and in similarly disabled veterans who had not been deployed to the Gulf war (non-Gulf veterans).

DESIGN: Two phase cohort study.

SETTING: Current and ex-service UK military personnel.

PARTICIPANTS: Phase 1 consisted of three randomly selected samples of Gulf veterans, veterans of the 1992-7 Bosnia peacekeeping mission, ...

BACKGROUND: In previous studies an association between deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan and an overall increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in UK armed forces has not been found. The lack of a deployment effect might be explained by including, in the comparison group, personnel deployed on other operations or who have experienced traumatic stressors unrelated to deployment.

METHODS: The sample comprised 8261 regular UK armed forces personnel who deployed to Iraq, ...

PURPOSE: There is speculation that high rates of mental illness among Reservists returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan may be due to the challenge of reintegrating into civilian life. We aimed to examine the postdeployment social functioning of Reservists and to explore the relationship between adverse postdeployment experiences and subsequent mental ill health.

METHODS: A sample of 4,991 UK military personnel who had deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan were asked about ...

BACKGROUND: The mental health of the Armed Forces is an important issue of both academic and public interest. The aims of this study are to: a) assess the prevalence and risk factors for common mental disorders and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, during the main fighting period of the Iraq War (TELIC 1) and later deployments to Iraq or elsewhere and enlistment status (regular or reserve), and b) compare the prevalence of depression, PTSD symptoms and suicidal ideation in ...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the prevalence of mental health outcomes in UK personnel at the end of the British involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.AimsWe examined the prevalence of mental disorders and alcohol misuse, whether this differed between serving and ex-serving regular personnel and by deployment status.

METHOD: This is the third phase of a military cohort study (2014-2016; n = 8093). The sample was based on participants from previous phases (2004-2006 and ...

BACKGROUND: There is growing concern about an alleged rise in violent behaviour amongst military personnel returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of violence in a sample of U.K. military personnel following homecoming from deployment in Iraq and to examine the impact of deployment-related experiences, such as combat trauma, on violence, and the role of sociodemographics and pre-enlistment antisocial behaviour.

METHOD: ...

BACKGROUND: Mortality associated with chronic fatigue syndrome is uncertain. We investigated mortality in individuals diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in secondary and tertiary care using data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) register.

METHODS: We calculated standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for all-cause, suicide-specific, and cancer-specific mortality for a 7-year ...