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Objectives: The aim of this cross-sectional epidemiologic study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of musculoskeletal disorders causing unfitness to Turkish Military Service. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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.

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.

Objective: It is reported that the most common cause of disability in the world is hearing loss following intellectual disability. Our aim in this study is to investigate the distribution of the hearing loss caused disability among young adult men having gone through medical examinations for compulsory military service between 2009 and 2011. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. We reviewed the prevalence of hearing loss among 1.777.500 people who were referred for medical examination according to Turkish National Military Regulations between 2009 and 2011. The data for this study has been obtained from the Health Department of the Ministry of Defense and studies have been started after acquiring the necessary ethical permissions from the Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA) Ethics Committee. Results: In this cross-sectional study, the prevalence of hearing loss that have become sequela and caused disability (40dB and above) has been identified as 3.32 per thousand in 2009, 3.95 per thousand in 2010 and 3.86 per thousand in 2011. The most common subtypes of hearing loss are unilateral profound hearing impairment including deafness (one ear normal, the other one with 90dB and above hearing loss) (28.9%), bilateral severe hearing impairment (65 dB or more hearing loss) (25.3%) and bilateral moderate hearing impairment (40-65 dB hearing loss) (19.3%). Conclusion: Although mostly acute infectious diseases have been observed in infancy and childhood, these diseases may become sequela at the level of disability in older ages (in advancing ages). Incidence of the disability can be reduced by early diagnosis and appropriate treatment especially during infancy and childhood.

Objective: Mental diseases are vital community health problems because they are common in public, and have negative social reflection and result in a disability. Methods: This cross-sectional study has been conducted by reviewing health reports of 1.777.500 people applying for military service examination in Turkish Armed Forces between 2009 and 2011. Results: Prevalence of psychiatric diseases leading to disability has been detected as 9.4 per thousand in 2009, 10.7 per thousand in 2010 and 10.0 per thousand in 2011. Mental retardation and schizophrenia prevalence have been detected as 6.4/1.6 per thousand in 2009, 7.2/1.7 per thousand in 2010, 7.1/1.3 per thousand in 2011. As a result of our study, it has been seen that mental retardation prevalence is parallel to world’s average, and prevalence of psychotic disorders is a bit lower because study group is young. Conclusion: Supporting this study with community based studies to be carried out in different populations proves benefit for policies to be improved in social and health area.