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The simultaneous and extensive military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan have overstretched the armed forces. This British cohort study examined the relation between duration and frequency of deployment and mental health in a random sample of 5447 soldiers who had been deployed to Iraq at least once during a 3-year period.
Soldiers completed a questionnaire designed to ascertain a variety of psychological and physical symptoms. Compared with soldiers deployed for 8 months or less, soldiers who were deployed for 13 months or more during the 3-year study period were significantly more likely to meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; odds ratio, 1.55) and to have multiple physical symptoms (OR, 1.49). Longer duration of depl…