DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Analysis of the Change of Health Status Among the Republic of Korea Air Force Soldiers During Military Service

  • Yoo, Seok-Ju (Aerospace Medical Center, Republic of Korea Air Force) ;
  • Park, Won-Ju (Aerospace Medical Center, Republic of Korea Air Force) ;
  • Lee, Kwan (Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine) ;
  • Lim, Hyun-Sul (Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kim, Hyun-Jin (Aerospace Medical Center, Republic of Korea Air Force) ;
  • Lee, Suk-Ho (Aerospace Medical Center, Republic of Korea Air Force)
  • Received : 2014.03.19
  • Accepted : 2014.06.17
  • Published : 2014.07.31

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the health status of Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) soldiers changed after one year of military service. Methods: We selected 483 ROKAF soldiers from the 11 749 recruits who participated in the 2011 physical examination. The selected soldiers underwent another physical examination in 2012 for advancement to senior airman. Data from 2011 and 2012 were merged. To collect data on lifestyle, a questionnaire was sent to all included subjects via the military intranet e-mail service. Results: The percentage of recruits with an abnormal alanine transaminase level (normal range <40 IU/L) decreased from recruitment (13.7%) to the following year (2.7%). Moreover, the percentage of obese soldiers (body mass index ${\geq}25kg/m^2$) decreased from recruitment (20.5%) to the following year (10.4%). There was a significant change in mean duration of exercise carried out each day before ($0.8{\pm}1.3$ hours) and after ($1.0{\pm}0.7$ hours) joining the ROKAF service. Conclusions: These ROKAF soldiers were generally in good health before and after joining the armed service. After one year of military service, the health status of most soldiers improved, especially with respect to body mass index and alanine transaminase level.

Keywords

References

  1. Jeong BY. Analysis of medical examination results from military officers and general public. J Korean Mil Med Assoc 2006;38(1):65-71 (Korean).
  2. Kim YK, Lee MS, Lee PJ, Kim YB. A study on the disease pattern by analysis the review data of army periodic physical examination. J Korean Mil Med Assoc 1998;29(1):142-147 (Korean).
  3. Hong CG. The analysis of results of complete physical examination. J Korean Mil Med Assoc 2006;38(1):72-78 (Korean).
  4. The Professor's Association of Korea Clinical Pathology. Introduction to clinical laboratory science. 5th ed. Seoul: Korea Medical Book Publisher; 2011, p. 429-436 (Korean).
  5. Bae KK, Kim AH. The impacts of three-year compulsory military service on body mass index and association with physical activity: short-term active-duty officer and noncommissioned officer. J Korean Mil Med Assoc 2012;43(1):153-164 (Korean).
  6. Ministry of Health and Welfare. Korea health statistics 2011: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V-2). Seoul: Ministry of Health and Welfare; 2012, p. 52-53 (Korean).
  7. Hsu LL, Nevin RL, Tobler SK, Rubertone MV. Trends in overweight and obesity among 18-year-old applicants to the United States military, 1993-2006. J Adolesc Health 2007;41(6):610-612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.07.012
  8. Grotto I, Zarka S, Balicer RD, Sherf M, Meyerovitch J. Risk factors for overweight and obesity in young healthy adults during compulsory military service. Isr Med Assoc J 2008;10(8-9):607-612.
  9. Sulemana H, Smolensky MH, Lai D. Relationship between physical activity and body mass index in adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2006;38(6):1182-1186. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000222847.35004.a5
  10. McMurray RG, Harrell JS, Deng S, Bradley CB, Cox LM, Bangdiwala SI. The influence of physical activity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on the weight status of adolescents. Obes Res 2000;8(2):130-139. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2000.14
  11. Bjorvatn B, Sagen IM, Oyane N, Waage S, Fetveit A, Pallesen S, et al. The association between sleep duration, body mass index and metabolic measures in the Hordaland Health Study. J Sleep Res 2007;16(1):66-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2007.00569.x
  12. Watson NF, Buchwald D, Vitiello MV, Noonan C, Goldberg J. A twin study of sleep duration and body mass index. J Clin Sleep Med 2010;6(1):11-17.
  13. Ruhl CE, Everhart JE. Determinants of the association of overweight with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase activity in the United States. Gastroenterology 2003;124(1):71-79. https://doi.org/10.1053/gast.2003.50004
  14. Bilal M, Tariq A, Khan S, Quratulain, Tariq A, Shahid MF, et al. Influence of gender, BMI, and ethnicity on serum ALT levels of healthy students of a medical school. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2011;23(1):70-72.
  15. Ramesh V, Saraswat S, Choudhury N, Gupta RK. Relationship of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) to body mass index (BMI) in blood donors: the need to correct ALT for BMI in blood donor screening. Transfus Med 1995;5(4):273-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3148.1995.tb00213.x
  16. Bedogni G, Miglioli L, Masutti F, Castiglione A, Tiribelli C, Bellentani S. Accuracy of body mass index in detecting an elevated alanine aminotransferase level in adolescents. Ann Hum Biol 2004;31(5):570-577. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014460400001230

Cited by

  1. Strategic Priorities to Improve Effectiveness of Anti-smoking Interventions for the Korean Military: An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process vol.183, pp.7, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usx027
  2. Behavioral impact of national health campaigns on healthy lifestyle practices among young adults in Singapore: a cross-sectional study vol.21, pp.1, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11628-5