ABSTRACT
The aim of this cross-sectional epidemiologic study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of musculoskeletal disorders causing unfitness to Turkish Military Service. This study has been carried out by examining the medical reports of 1.777.500 people who applied to the Turkish Armed Forces for military service between 2009-2011. Age and geographic region of individuals were compiled and organized in groups. Musculoskeletal disorders were classified mainly as fracture sequel, spine disorders, absence of phalanges, extremity amputation, aggressive or multiple benign tumors of bones and pes planus. Unfitness to military service caused by musculoskeletal disorders was found to be 6.53% in 2009, 7.10% in 2010 and 7.28% in 2011. The prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases has increased by years. The prevalence of fracture squeal by years was found to be 2.83% in 2009, 3.10% in 2010 and 3.03% in 2011. In this study, the most common musculoskeletal disorders were: limitation of joint mobility [0.89%], degeneration of joint surface [0.69%], lower and upper limb discrepancies [0.60%], posterior fusion surgery [0.59%] and the absence of the phalanges in hand [0.51%]. We found an increase in both the prevalence of posterior fusion surgery and the absence of the phalanges in study group. These results has given information about severe musculoskeletal disorders among young adult male in Turkey. New studies including young adult female will add important information to our knowledge about musculuskelatal problems in our community
ABSTRACT
To explore the causes and prevalence of visual impairment in young Turkish men. The health examination data of the candidates that are saved in National Defense Ministry of Turkey was used. The data of the candidates examined between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 were evaluated. The total number of the candidates was 1777500. The candidates requiring advanced examination are referred to secondary and tertiary examination hospitals. Fourteen thousand eight hundred sixty two[14862] out of 1777500 candidates were declared unfit for compulsory military service because of ophthalmic causes. The prevalence of ophthalmologic diseases causing unfitness for military service was found 0.746% for 2009, 0.871% for 2010 and 0.889% for 2011. These included high refractive errors which was the most frequent pathology causing unfitness [40.1%]. Nonsurgical retina, vitreous and optic nerve diseases were the most frequent cause of visual impairment [0.212%]. Corneal and lens pathologies were the second most frequent cause of blindness [0.101%]. The data bank in National Defense Ministry analyzed in this study is not directly intended to explore the causes and prevalence of visual impairment in Turkey. However this study gives considerable knowledge about the causes and prevalence of visual impairment in Turkey
ABSTRACT
Objective: Disability is one of the significant problems that the public faces as regards social aspects, economics, public health and politics. Our aim was to review the prevalence of diseases causing disabilities in young adult men who are declared "unfit for military service" in Turkey after medical examination
Methods: We reviewed the prevalence of diseases among 113,175 young adult men who were referred for medical examination between 2009 and 2011
Results: Prevalence of unfitness for military service was 5.56% in 2009, 6.74% in 2010 and 6.77% in 2011. Leading causes for young adult men to be rejected from military service was intellectual disability 6.88, hearing loss 3.71, epilepsy 1.59, schizophrenia 1.54 and diabetes mellitus 1.47 per thousand people
Conclusion: Screening for the prevalence of disability conditions is an important data source for policies to be developed. Supporting such survey with community based studies in different populations in future shall be beneficial for improvement of policies in social and health fields