Negative Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption Behaviors in an Australian Army Combat Brigade

Abstract

Introduction: Western militaries have consumption rates of alcohol and tobacco which are higher than the associated civilian populations, and are concerned about the negative effects on health, wellbeing, and military performance that such high rates may have. Materials and Methods: A survey questionnaire which collected nonidentifiable data was distributed to all accessible members of an Australian Army Combat Brigade over the annual induction training and prefield exercise period between January and March 2019. The survey was composed of personal and demographic questions, followed by questions concerning the personal consumption habits of alcohol and tobacco. 1,606 complete and valid surveys were returned, representing 55.3% of the Brigade's posted strength. Ethical clearance for this project was provided by the Australian Defence Force Joint Health Command Low Risk Ethics Panel (18-012). Results: Almost one quarter of the Combat Brigade exceeded the Australian daily risk guideline for alcohol consumption, and over three quarters exceeded the occasion risk guideline; with 6.1% of soldiers drinking alcohol daily. 24.3% identified as tobacco smokers, with 15.9% smoking daily. Smoking rates and volumes were higher when deployed on field training exercises and on international training and operational deployments; as was the consumption of roll-your-own cigarettes. Overall, the main determinants of the negative consumption behaviors were gender (male) and age (under 25). Conclusions: This study confirmed that the members of an Australian Army Combat Brigade have higher negative health consumption behaviors concerning alcohol and tobacco than the general civilian population. The results also identified a cohort of Senior Non-Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers (E5-E9) between the ages of 35 and 44 who had high negative consumption behaviors which could result in poor health outcomes. This could be a suitable cohort for a targeted campaign to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption and to assist to make healthy life changes.