Table 1_Self-reported prescription medication use and polypharmacy following physical combat injury in the UK: the ADVANCE cohort study.docx

This study aims to describe prescription medication use in a cohort of UK Armed Forces personnel who sustained physical combat injuries during the Afghanistan conflict (injured group) compared to demographically similar personnel without such injuries (uninjured group) a median of 11 years post injury.</p>Methods<p>One thousand and fifty one participants of the ADVANCE cohort (injured group n = 526 uninjured group n = 525), including individuals with (n = 141) and without (n = 384) limb loss or with (n = 226) and without (n = 300) deployment-related Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), reported medication use during a clinical interview.

Overall incidence of prescribing any medication, specific anatomical/therapeutic classes (e.g., Central Nervous System (CNS), psychotropic or analgesic) and medications with pain or mental health indications were investigated. General (≥5 medications), CNS (≥5), psychotropic (≥2) and analgesic (≥2) polypharmacy was also investigated.</p>Results<p>Compared to the uninjured group, the injured group reported a greater prevalence of prescription medication use (17.8% vs. 29.7%), including medications acting on the CNS (8.0% vs. 17.2%), psychotropics (6.3% vs. 11.8%) and analgesics (2.2% vs. 8.6%).