Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jun 2012
ReviewExposures of concern to veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.
There is a long history of Veterans returning from war with concerns regarding environmental hazards that they may have experienced while in theater. The author describes some of the tools in place within the Department of Defense to capture the frequency and nature of exposure concerns of returning troops. ⋯ The author then presents some of the recent published literature on these concerns. To address these exposure concerns of Veterans, there is then a brief discussion of a new program being put in place at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jun 2012
Does deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan affect respiratory health of US military personnel?
To evaluate the association between postdeployment respiratory conditions and deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. ⋯ In a population of active duty US military personnel, we observed an increase in postdeployment respiratory symptoms and medical encounters for obstructive pulmonary diseases, relative to predeployment rates, in the absence of an association with cumulative deployment duration or total number of deployments.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jun 2012
Environmental exposure and health of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.
We characterized the prevalence of self-reported environmental exposures, concerns about exposures, and their relationships with somatic symptoms in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) (OIF) veterans seeking treatment at a specialty Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic. Concerns about environmental exposures were expected to lead to more reporting of somatic symptom burden. ⋯ OEF/OIF veterans seeking treatment at a VA clinic reported a high prevalence of environmental exposures and exposure concerns. Both negatively impacted health outcomes.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jun 2012
Organizational psychosocial factors and deployment-related exposure concerns in Afghanistan/Iraq War veterans.
Environmental exposure concerns are associated with adverse health outcomes in soldiers deployed to South West Asia. There is little data on factors associated with the reporting of exposure concerns. We explored the relationship between deployment-related preparedness/support and exposure concerns. ⋯ Deployment-related preparedness/support is associated with exposure concerns and mental health functioning. Definitive studies will provide data and insight on how the military may better prepare/support soldiers to optimize their resilience and reduce deployment-related exposure concerns.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jun 2012
Historical ArticleHealth hazards of exposures during deployment to war.
This article serves as an introduction to the history of military environmental exposures, both man-made and naturally occurring. It also discusses exposure hazards of concern to US military members who have served in armed conflict in the past 40+ years. ⋯ Environmental exposure hazards during deployment to conflict are not new. Concerns about these exposures are not new. Many conflicts have similar, if not identical exposures of concern, but also often have some that are unique to the particular conflict. In 2001 the Department of Veterans Affairs established a new program to address some of these concerns of Veterans.