Post-deployment health screening of members of the United Kingdom Armed Forces: the POST study

A cluster randomised controlled trial to assess and improve the effectiveness of post-deployment screening for mental illness in 6,000 members of the United Kingdom Armed Forces returning from deployment to Afghanistan

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN19965528

Enrollment

6000

Registered

2011-12-23

Start date

2011-11-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-03-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse and post-concussion symptoms (PCS) Mental and Behavioural Disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder

Interventions

Participants in the intervention arm of the trial will be offered advice based on their responses to the following questionnaires: 1. PTSD checklist (PCL-C) 2. The Brie

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Healthy volunteers from the Armed Forces who have recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Platoons which act as such only during deployment and disperse at reintegration 2. Platoons whose size is below 20 3. Special Forces 4. Those who have deployed for less than 30 days

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Is post-deployment screening for PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse effective in reducing the morbidity (level of symptoms and functional impairment) from these conditions? 2. Does the subsequent help seeking behavior of those identified as possible cases in the screening group differ from that in the control group? 3. Are there side effects of the screening program in the intervention group in comparison to the control group? 4. Is a screening programme cost-effective?	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Is post-deployment screening for PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse effective in reducing the morbidity (level of symptoms and functional impairment) from these conditions? 2. Does the subsequent help seeking behavior of those identified as possible cases in the screening group differ from that in the control group? 3. Are there side effects of the screening program in the intervention group in comparison to the control group? 4. Is a screening programme cost-effective?

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. We will ascertain the level of impairment and the change in status in the intervention and control groups 2. We will also measure post concussion symptoms (PCS) in the reassessment stage in the two groups to monitor the consequences of screening on the long term manifestations of mTBI 3. We will also measure changes in the score for each of the tests in the efficacy assessment as a complementary analysis, but not as a primary outcome, to assess whether the change has been greater in the intervention than the control group 4. As a complementary aim of the study we will carry out a small survey to assess the attitudes of welfare and health professionals towards a screening program	—

Measure

Time frame

1. We will ascertain the level of impairment and the change in status in the intervention and control groups 2. We will also measure post concussion symptoms (PCS) in the reassessment stage in the two groups to monitor the consequences of screening on the long term manifestations of mTBI 3. We will also measure changes in the score for each of the tests in the efficacy assessment as a complementary analysis, but not as a primary outcome, to assess whether the change has been greater in the intervention than the control group 4. As a complementary aim of the study we will carry out a small survey to assess the attitudes of welfare and health professionals towards a screening program

—

Countries

Cyprus, Germany, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 10, 2026