A 3-year follow-on piece of work to the original Scottish Veterans’ Health Study (2012-2015), to be carried out by Dr Beverly Bergman. The original study provided the first insight into the long-term health of 57,000 veterans and compared their health profile to non-veterans. In this follow-on work, a further 10 years of birth cohort data will be incorporated to examine important mental health outcomes in younger veterans, and will include additional health outcomes such as post-Service amputations and joint replacement surgery.

Following on from the original study on Trends in Scottish Veterans Health which was presented to Scottish Parliament in Autumn 2022, the Scottish Veterans Health Research Group will use underspend from the project to examine the impact of COVID on veterans, in comparison with people who had never served, and explore whether there were any differences in risk of infection, severity or outcomes. The new study will look at the extent to which pre-existing health conditions, both physical and mental, may have impacted on COVID risk, and will provide valuable additional information on the health and welfare needs of the veteran population.