Military personnel may be exposed to a wide range of physical and mental health hazards through their work. Often, the complexity of service-related exposures makes it difficult to connect them with any resulting health issues, particularly after many years have passed. Assessing and documenting data related to military exposures is important to inform health promotion, research and Veteran compensation.

What is this Research About?

This research identifies what kind of data is captured about military exposures in these five countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. By providing an initial picture of available data sources and ways they could be linked together, this work identifies opportunities to identify and reduce adverse health effects in serving personnel and Veterans.

What did the Researchers Do?

Veteran and Defence researchers across the five countries identified and reviewed data sources from their respective nations. A total of 57 military exposure data sources (22 from The United States, 15 from Australia, 10 from The United Kingdom, 8 from Canada, and 2 from New Zealand) were examined and summarized.

What did the Researchers Find?

• The most common sources of data were:
  • military population surveys (which typically included self-reported exposures by active military members and/or Veterans)
  • administrative databases (which included medical records, compensation, and personnel records)
• Defence administrations were the most common holders of exposure data
• Within the data, certain subpopulations could be identified for:
  • particular operations (e.g., Gulf War Veterans and Vietnam Era Twins);
  • military occupations or environments (e.g., firefighters, personnel posted on submarines)
  • service periods (e.g., members serving within a specified period or released since a certain date)
• The most common reason for collecting exposure data was for research and health promotion efforts. Other reasons included:
  • surveillance (exposure and/or health)
  • service delivery (health focused and other)
  • military workforce management
• Challenges in collecting exposure data were noted, including:
  • feasibility of collection during active deployment circumstances
  • limited funding and human resources
  • technological limitations with measurement equipment
  • strict data governance structures (e.g., national and/or military security concerns)
• The researchers also noted a lack of sex and gender-specific information in data sources across the five countries - a significant gap given known differences in occupational exposure patterns and health risks across male and female veterans.
• Opportunities included: 
  • linkages with other data sources (e.g., health databases) to maximize information value
  • external collaboration, between administrations and countries, to share expertise and standardize measures for easier data pooling and comparisons

Source

Hall AL, Batchelor T, Bogaert L, Buckland R, Cowieson AB, Drew M, Harrison K, McBride DI, Schneiderman A and Taylor K (2023) International perspective on military exposure data sources, applications, and opportunities for collaboration. Front. Public Health. 11:1154595. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1154595