Relevant issues of hygienic and sanitary education of military personnel in modern conditions

Introduction. Maintaining the health in military personnel is impossible without hygienic training, education and sanitary education, for which it is necessary to conduct research that allows updating the knowledge base and ways to bring them to the military. 

Materials and methods. In February–April 2022, a cross-sectional medical and social study was carried out by interviewing military personnel serving under a contract. The volume of the sample population was 352 people. The effect of independent factors on the targets was evaluated by regression analysis using the method of constructing polynomial logistic regression. 

Results. Information about reasons of the most common diseases among military personnel in the region was not important for 39.8%, and information about prevention these diseases — for 33% of respondents. When asked about the frequency of hygienic education classes, the 55.9% of respondents noted the frequency of 1 once a month and less often. The most convenient form of communicating information in the hygienic education system, 33.8% of respondents chose a lecture format, another 31.3% indicated a way to disseminate information through the Internet site. For 45.2% of respondents, information about respiratory diseases was most relevant at the time of the survey. The importance of knowledge about reasons of the most common diseases among military personnel was influenced by marital status, monthly income, number of children, frequency of alcohol consumption, presence of chronic diseases, and weight of military personnel. The assessment of the importance of knowledge about the prevention of these diseases was significantly influenced by military rank and frequency of alcohol consumption. 

Limitations. The volume of a sample of 352 contracted servicemen serving in the Severodvinsk garrison; climatogeographic features of the region; cross-sectional nature of the study. 

Conclusion. The obtained data make it possible to justify the need to modernize the existing system of hygienic education, including creating specialized Internet resources, and using modern marketing achievements to create the necessary motivation for military personnel. The existing nature of planning training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation requires its correction, taking into account the importance of the issue of forming a healthy behaviour among military personnel.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee of the Northern State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association in the 2013 edition.

Patient consent. Each participant of the study (or his/her legal representative) gave informed voluntary written consent to participate in the study and publish personal medical information in an impersonal form in the journal "Gigiena i Sanitariya (Hygiene and Sanitation, Russian journal)".

Contribution:
Dybin A.S. — study concept and design, data processing, statistical processing, text writing;
Popov A.N., Zhdanov A.A., Mavrenkov E.M. — modification, editing;
Shapovalov P.Yu. — material collection and data processing, text writing.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article. 

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: September 10, 2022 / Accepted: December 8, 2022 / Published: April 20, 2023