Temporal trends in the healthy soldier effect in a cohort of Royal Norwegian Navy servicemen followed for 67 years.

The HSE eroded gradually over time but was still present at 60 years of follow-up for all-cause mortality. The effect was strongest and most long-lived for non-neoplastic disease, lasted up to 40 years for external causes, and was relatively short for cancers. Land-based personnel showed stronger and longer-lasting HSE than vessel crews.