The Effect of Deployment on Cholesterol Levels of Active Duty Personnel
Abstract
With the present environment of worldly unrest, the military presence in foreign countries can be expected to continue for quite some time. The current deployment rates for many active duty personnel average well over 200+ days per year. The standard practice for the installation being studied is to deploy for 30, 60, 90, or 120 day rotations. Each military member is required to have a complete physical annually, including cholesterol screening beginning at age 25, or younger upon request. The annual physical is usually coordinated with the member's birth month, but is to be completed as soon as possible after the member's return from deployment, if they were gone during that time. One might expect with the young (majority being between 18-40 years), healthy population in question to see fairly good results regarding cholesterol levels. It was noted that several members returned from deployment \with elevated levels, sometimes to the degree of being grounded from flying until being rut on medication to lower their cholesterol. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of elevated levels pre-deployment and post-deployment in order to determine the extent of the problem or if it exists at all. A review will be conducted of the 400+ medical records of special duty personnel enrolled to a particular military installation. Members were included in the study if they had completed a lipid panel within 12 months prior to deployment and within 30 days of returning from deployment, thus making deployment criteria for participating as well. All records meeting the above requirement of male, cholesterol levels recorded maximum of 12 months prior to deployment, deployment period of 30 days or greater, and a post-deployment cholesterol within 30 days of return were eligible to be included in the study.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA450051
Entities
People
- Renae R. Denelsbeck
Organizations
- University of North Dakota