The major results of 35-year monitoring of some indicators of the state of health of military personnel – liquidators of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The results of long-term (1987–2021) dispensary dynamic monitoring of morbidity rates of the circulatory organs and malignant neoplasms in servicemen – liquidators of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are presented. It was shown that the contribution of diseases of the circulatory system to the overall structure of the morbidity of liquidators during the analyzed period is 25% (rank I), and the contribution of malignant neoplasms is only 3% (IX). Diseases of the circulatory system were the cause of deaths in 61% of the liquidators, and oncological neoplasms in 29% (I and II ranking places, respectively). Liquidators who died from circulatory system diseases had a mean life expectancy of 69 years. This indicator was affected by when the person arrived (1986–1987), how old they were when they arrived (30–40 years), and whether they took part in any «high-risk» work. The average age of the liquidators who died from malignant neoplasms is 67 years. The risk factors included: arrival period (1986–1987), age during stay in the «dangerous» zone (less than 45 years), duration of arrival (more than 60 days), participation in work of high radiation risk. The amount of external radiation absorbed had no significant effect on the frequency of the studied diseases.