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General health status in army personnel: relations with health behaviors and psychosocial variables

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Abstract

Purpose

Poor self-rated health (SRH) is linked to an increased risk of injury, future healthcare services utilization, and morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to identify correlates of a single-item measure of health in 8070 US Army personnel.

Methods

Responses were collected from the Army’s global assessment tool (GAT) 2.0, an online questionnaire that assesses physical and psychosocial health. SRH was measured by the item, “How do you consider your health?” (four response categories: “poor,” “fair,” “good,” and “excellent”). Ordinal logistic regression (OLR) was used to evaluate how various health and psychosocial factors contribute to Soldiers’ ratings of SRH. Unadjusted and adjusted cumulative odds ratios (ORs) are presented and discussed.

Results

Most participants reported “good” health (57%), followed by “excellent” (24%), “fair” (17%), and “poor” (2%). Sleep quality (OR 2.48; 95% CI 2.34, 2.63) was the largest correlate of SRH, followed by obesity (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.43, 0.58), emotional fitness (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.56, 1.82), and Army physical fitness test (APFT) scores (OR 1.43; 95% CI 1.36, 1.51).

Conclusions

Single-item measures of self-reported health can cover a broad spectrum across physical and mental health. Among a large US Army sample, sleep quality was most strongly associated with SRH, followed by emotional fitness and APFT scores. In contrast, service-component and other sociodemographic characteristics had relatively small effects on general health. Military investigators and leaders who must rely on various subjective general health measures should interpret them as a combination of these factors.

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Notes

  1. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board concluded that a full review was not required for this investigation. This study was not classified as human subjects research since the Army provided data stripped of identification elements to the Consortium for Health and Military Performance per an established data use agreement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Samuel Golenbock, Josh B. Kazman, Stephen Krauss & Patricia A. Deuster

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  1. Samuel Golenbock
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  2. Josh B. Kazman
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  3. Stephen Krauss
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  4. Patricia A. Deuster
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Correspondence to Samuel Golenbock.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Disclaimer

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the Department of the Defense, or the U.S. Government.

Funding

This research was supported by a Grant from Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2; HT9404-12-1-0017; F191GJ).

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Golenbock, S., Kazman, J.B., Krauss, S. et al. General health status in army personnel: relations with health behaviors and psychosocial variables. Qual Life Res 26, 1839–1851 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1523-7

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