Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Social and economic costs of gambling problems and related harm among UK military veterans

Harris, Shaun, Pockett, R. D., Dighton, G., Wood, K., Armour, C., Fossey, M., Hogan, L., Kitchiner, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0499-9520, Larcombe, J., Rogers, R. D. and Dymond, S. 2023. Social and economic costs of gambling problems and related harm among UK military veterans. BMJ Military Health 169 (5) , pp. 413-418. 10.1136/bmjmilitary-2021-001892

[thumbnail of bmjmilitary-2021-001892.full.pdf] PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

Download (301kB)

Abstract

Introduction Military veterans are at heightened risk of problem gambling. Little is known about the costs of problem gambling and related harm among United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces (AF) veterans. We investigated the social and economic costs of gambling among a large sample of veterans through differences in healthcare and social service resource use compared with age-matched and gender-matched non-veterans from the UK AF Veterans’ Health and Gambling Study. Methods An online survey measured sociodemographic characteristics, gambling experience and problem severity, mental health and healthcare resource utilisation. Healthcare provider, personal social service and societal costs were estimated as total adjusted mean costs and utility, with cost-consequence analysis of a single timepoint. Results Veterans in our sample had higher healthcare, social service and societal costs and lower utility. Veterans had greater contacts with the criminal justice system, received more social service benefits, had more lost work hours and greater accrued debt. A cost difference of £590 (95% CI −£1016 to −£163) was evident between veterans with scores indicating problem gambling and those reporting no problems. Costs varied by problem gambling status. Conclusions Our sample of UK AF veterans has higher healthcare, social service and societal costs than non-veterans. Veterans experiencing problem gambling are more costly but have no reduction in quality of life.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG)
Medicine
Psychology
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN: 2633-3775
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 23 January 2023
Date of Acceptance: 12 September 2021
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2023 09:26
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/155638

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics