Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35613796›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2022

Factors associated with self-reported health among New Zealand military veterans: a cross-sectional study.

David McBride, Ariyapala Samaranayaka, Amy Richardson, Dianne Gardner, Daniel Shepherd, Emma Wyeth, Brandon de Graaf, Sarah Derrett

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. SCORE2 Outperforms Pol-SCORE in Detecting Increased Cardiovascular Risk.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2025
    Article
  2. Co-Design of an Ecosystem of Services to Support Veteran Well-Being and Reduce Excessive Alcohol Consumption.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Narratives of holistic mental health recovery in New Zealand Defence Force personnel.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2024
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

David McBrideDepartment of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand david.mcbride@otago.ac.nz.ORCID 0000-0001-5531-7687
Ariyapala SamaranayakaBiostatistics Centre, University of Otago Division of Health Sciences, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Amy RichardsonPreventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0003-4776-3059
Dianne GardnerDepartment of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Daniel ShepherdHealth Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-7089-7130
Emma WyethNgāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-6869-5190
Brandon de GraafInjury Prevention Research Unit, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Sarah DerrettPreventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand.
University of Otago · NZAuckland University of Technology · NZMassey University · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo identify factors associated with better or poorer self-reported health status in New Zealand military Veterans.

designA cross-sectional survey.

participantsThe participants of interest were the 3874 currently serving Veterans who had been deployed to a conflict zone, but all Veterans were eligible to participate. STUDY VARIABLES: The EQ-5D-5L, asking about problems across five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort and anxiety or depression), with five levels of severity (eg, no, slight, moderate, severe or extreme problems), also containing a Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) to self-assess health state, scaled from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) imagined health.Hypothetical relationships with better health were positive social support, sleep and psychological flexibility; with poorer health, post-traumatic stress, exposure to psychological trauma, distress and hazardous drinking.

resultsThe EQ5-D-5L was completed by 1767 Veterans, 1009 serving, a response rate of 26% from that group, 1767 completing the EQ5-D, 1458 who had deployed, 288 who had not and the 21 who did not provide deployment data. Of these, 247 were not used in the analysis due to missing values in one or more variables, leaving 1520 for analysis.A significantly higher proportion of Veterans reported 'any problems' rather than 'no problems' with four EQ-5D dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities and pain or discomfort, but no difference in anxiety or depression. Age, length of service, deployment, psychological flexibility and better sleep quality were associated with higher EQ-VAS scores; distress with lower EQ-VAS scores.

conclusionIn this sample of New Zealand Veterans, psychological flexibility and good sleep are associated with better self-rated health, and distress and poor sleep with diminished health. These factors might be used as sentinel health indicators in assessing Veteran health status, and cognitive-behavioural therapy encompassing these domains may be useful in improving the health of New Zealand Veterans.

Indexed as

VeteransCross-Sectional StudiesHealth StatusHumansNew ZealandPainQuality of LifeSelf ReportSurveys and Questionnairesepidemiologyhealth & safetymental healthmusculoskeletal disordersoccupational & industrial medicinerisk management

Identifiers

PMID35613796
PMCPMC9134175
OpenAlexW4281492460

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.