Woman and Man
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Extract
Background and study aims We do not know if asking military personnel about their mental health and offering advice (we call this screening) after a tour of duty is helpful. Some say that screening is a good thing and others think that it is not. So, we want to look at this to find out if it does work. We also want to see if just letting personnel know about where to get help works. Some people who take part will get tailored advice on their current mental health and whatever help they can get. Others will get only general advice. Both groups will be contacted again one year later to ask how they have been getting on. Who can participate? 6,000 British Army and Royal Marines personnel just back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan are invited to take part in our study. Anyone who is part of this deployed force may be able to participate if selected into the study regardless of age, sex and their current health. What does the study involve? Our study will ask participants about their mental health after returning from Afghanistan. Participants will be split into one of two groups and fill in a questionnaire on a computer. The questionnaires are exactly the same, but after completion one group will be given tailored health advice on screen and one group will be given general advice only. We will ask both groups for permission to look at their medical and personnel records. We will look at the medical and personnel records of the two groups to see if there are any differences between them one year after completing the first questionnaire. All participants who agreed will be asked to fill out another questionnaire a year after completing the initial questionnaire. At the end of the study we want to find out if those who were given tailored advice about their mental health got better than those who did not. Participants can leave the study at any time without giving a reason. This will not affect their military career in any way. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? We will find out whether screening personnel after a tour results in fewer people suffering mental health problems and whether people who got advice from our questionnaire did go on to seek help and get better. This study will help the Armed Forces to decide whether a screening programme should be implemented to all personnel returning from deployment. Participants in the screening arm of the study will obtain health care tailored to their needs or receive reassurance that they are not having any mental health problems. We do not envisage any benefits to those in the control group, except that they will have the opportunity to think actively about their mental health. As with any study, for some people there is a small risk of harm in taking part. For example, a participant may be upset by the advice given in the questionnaire or upset at doing the questionnaire. Although the risk of harm is extremely small we do have an independent medical advisor that participants can contact by telephone or in writing if they have any concerns. The advisor's contact details are on the Information for Participants which is given to the participants to keep. Where is the study run from? We will visit military bases in the UK, Germany and Cyprus. The main centre for the POST study is at King's College London. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? Recruitment started in November 2011. Data collection will end in July 2013 and the study is funded until September 2014. We are recruiting participants from November 2011 to August 2012. Who is funding the study? The study is funded by the United States Department of Defense. Who is the main contact? Professor Roberto Rona [email protected]
Inclusion criteria
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse.
- Post-concussion symptoms (PCS)