Screening questions to identify Canadian Veterans

Abstract

Introduction: In Canada, there are an estimated 700,000 Veterans of the Canadian military. Veterans are disproportionately prevalent in sub-populations of males, persons with chronic physical conditions, chronic pain, mental health conditions, and those with disabling activity limitations. Veterans are a population of interest to Canadian researchers, but there is no publicly available comprehensive list of Veterans in Canada. This creates a need for a standard set of screening questions suitable for self-report surveys. This article proposes a series of screening questions to identify Canadian Veterans. Methods: The content of the questions were developed considering self-identity, past Canadian surveys, legislation, and relevant characteristics of Canadian military service. Results: The recommended Canadian Veteran identifier questions are: “Have you ever had any Canadian military service? Was this service with the Regular Force? Reserve Force? Navy? Army? Air Force? Are you currently in the Canadian Armed Forces? What year were you released from the Canadian Armed Forces? What year did you join the Canadian Armed Forces?” Discussion: The consistent use of these screening questions allows for comparisons with other studies and will contribute to a better understanding of Veterans in Canada and of the transition from military to civilian life.