@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2008-2630    Iranian Journal of War & Public Health 2017;9(2):67-71

Background
War is one of the most recognized cause of mortality, a reduction in the health and long-term physical and psychological complications in military personnel and civilians and it causes a collapse in the balance of human labor. Many war veterans face problems such as heat injuries, stress disorders, amputations, burns, musculoskeletal lesions, chemical waste, and damage in performance capabilities [1-4]. This causes inability or difficulty in returning the veteran person to previous roles.
Previous Studies
One of the approaches used in occupational therapy for investigating work balance is PEO (Person-Environment-Occupation). In this approach, the emphasis is on the relationship between the three person, environment, and work dimensions and their impact on the individual's performance and their health and well-being. The relationship between these factors is not linear, but dynamic and active, and the continuous interaction of these factors affect the manner of doing activities and tasks of everyday work of the individual [5]. Although all three domains are interacting, the focus of this study is on the work factor.
Aim(s)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of unemployment on general health of veterans.
Research type
This is a qualitative study.
Research society, place and time
25 veterans who were eligible for employment law, who had a record in the Family Pain and Health Clinic at the Shafa Neuroscience Research Center, had the motivation for interviewing and the ability to transfer information and experiences, and were not employed at the time of the research (their only income was from employment law) were interviewed in 2009 via data saturation method.
Sampling method and number
Data were collected using open and semi-structured interviews. Oral and informed consent was obtained from the Participants (25male veterans), and anonymity, confidentiality of information, and their right to withdraw at each stage of the interview were announced to them.
Used devices&materials
To ensure the storage of all information, all interviews were recorded with veterans' awareness. The manuscripts of the interviews were immediately written after the interview and was again adopted with the audio file. Then, the handwriting was typed and was recited several times in order to extract the initial code. In the next step, the codes were merged and categorized based on similarities, and finally the implicit concepts were extracted from the data. The reliability and validity of data were verified by checking the codes by the participants. Also, the transcripts and encoded text were reviewed by three prominent professors and their amendments were implemented.
Findings by Text
The mean age of participants was 44.5+2.5 (39 to 50 years). 11 out of 25 participants had more than 50% injuries. 13 had primary and secondary school education; 7 had diploma and associate degree, and 5 had bachelor degree. Before the employment status, 11, 8, 2, 3, and 1 were employee, farmers, gardeners, heavy truck drivers, and practice nurse respectively. The participants were from Isfahan, Tehran, Zanjan, Qom, Kohgilah and Boyer Ahmad, Fars, Qazvin, Khuzestan, Ardebil, Golestan, Mazandaran and Guilan provinces. Totally, 45 sub-themes were extracted from the interviews and classified into five main themes (family problems, social problems, physical problems, and economic problems).
Main comparison to the similar studies
The results of this study are consistent with the review study of Brand [4] which considered the stress of unemployment as having a direct impact on physical and psychological disorders including suicide. Since the highest unemployment rates are related to middle-aged people, and younger and older people are less sensitive to unemployment [2], and given that our veterans are often middle aged, the problems that they have reported are adapted to the brand's study [1]. Unemployment even affects the individual's daily scheduling, which reduces and damages one's competence and abilities [1, 2]. According to a meta-analysis performed in 19 studies, the mental health of those who were employed and then unemployed was significantly reduced [2], and the return of the unemployment to work after the unemployment period had a significant effect on their mental health [2, 3], which indicates that returning veterans to the working environment in accordance with their physical conditions can have a significant effect on their living conditions. The obtained domains regarding the impact of unemployment on physical health in other studies are also consistent with the domains obtained in this study. Based on these articles, most of physical problems of veterans are the lack of general health, physical inability, heart problems, more use of insurance and treatment service, more hospitalization, self-harm behaviors, anger, stress, anxiety, and suicide [1, 3-12].
Suggestions

Limitations

Conclusions
Unemployment in any society, especially of the head of household is not good, and society never accepts an unemployed person. As a result, the person and his children suffer more from expressing their unemployment and being overwhelmed than from the economic problems that are associated with unemployment.
Acknowledgments
We thank to all the great veterans who tolerated the long interviews.
Conflict of interest
This study has no conflict with any particular group and individual.
Ethical Permissions
Regarding the subject matter and the lack of intervention, it was not necessary to get confirmation of the ethics committee.
Funding Sources
The sources of this study have been provided by the Shafa Neuroscience Research Center.