This research project aims to understand the prevalence of specified physical and mental health disorders in military veterans compared to non-veterans.

The objectives are to compare the prevalence of dementia and of common mental health disorders (depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse, substance misuse and PTSD) within the veteran and non-veteran population, and to identify and analyse the demographical trends including age, gender, and marital status.

The research will be led by Professor Alan Finnegan at the Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans, based at the University of Chester.

The project follows the successful ‘Where are all the veterans’ study from the same research team, which identified simple and effective ways for GP practices to identify veterans and encourage their registration with GPs. The researchers also examined the data on levels of CMDs, and found a significantly higher prevalence of CMDs in veterans than expected. This project will build on this research, improving understanding of the prevalence of CMDs in the veteran population.