Samenvatting

From the article: "Background: The armed forces work under high pressure and in stressful environments and it is well
known that being in the military is a risk factor for psychiatric problems. However, it remains unknown how prevalent
psychotropic medication use is in military personnel. Objective: To assess prevalence of psychotropic medication use in
Dutch military personnel and compare to the Dutch general population. Methods: Data were obtained from the military
pharmacy. From 2003 to 2012, the year-prevalence of psychotropic medication use was calculated from the number of
distributed psychotropic medications and the number of Dutch military personnel. For the year 2011, the year-prevalence
of psychotropic medication use in the military was compared to that of the Dutch general population. Results: The yearprevalence
of psychotropic medication use increased by 55%, from 1.64% in 2003 to 2.54% in 2012 in Dutch military
personnel. An increase is seen in the number of users of psychotropic medication. Also the use of antidepressants and
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication increased. Conclusion: Over the last decade, there has been a 1.5-fold
increase in psychotropic medication dispensed to Dutch military personnel. However, Dutch military personnel were
significantly less likely to use psychotropic medications compared to the Dutch general population."