Analysis of Nonbattle Deaths Among U.S. Service Members in the Deployed Environment
| Autor: | Karan P. Singh, Heuy-Ching Wang, Tuan D. Le, Anthony E Pusateri, Kevin S. Akers, Kevin K. Chung, Jennifer M. Gurney, Mark E Stackle |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Battle media_common.quotation_subject Trauma registry Young Adult Injury Severity Score medicine Humans Registries Military Medicine Iraq War 2003-2011 media_common Afghan Campaign 2001 business.industry Incidence Service member medicine.disease United States Survival Rate Military personnel Military Personnel Wounds and Injuries Female Surgery Medical emergency business |
| Zdroj: | Annals of Surgery. 274:e445-e451 |
| ISSN: | 1528-1140 0003-4932 |
| DOI: | 10.1097/sla.0000000000005047 |
| Popis: | OBJECTIVE Describe etiologies and trends in non-battle deaths (NBD) among deployed U.S. service members to identify areas for prevention. BACKGROUND Injuries in combat are categorized as battle (result of hostile action) or nonbattle related. Previous work found that one-third of injured US military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan had nonbattle injuries and emphasized prevention. NBD have not yet been characterized. METHODS U.S. military casualty data for Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 were obtained from the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) and the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DoDTR). Two databases were used because DoDTR does not capture prehospital deaths, while DCAS does not contain clinical details. Nonbattle injuries and NBD were identified, etiologies classified, and NBD trends were assessed using a weighted moving average and time-series analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average. Future NBD rates were forecast. RESULTS DCAS recorded 59,799 casualties; 21.0% (n = 1431) of all deaths (n = 6745) were NBD. DoDTR recorded 29,958 casualties; 11.5% (n = 206) of all deaths (n = 1788) were NBD. After early fluctuations, NBD rates for both Iraq and Afghanistan stabilized at approximately 21%. Leading causes of NBD were gunshot wounds and vehicle accidents, accounting for 66%. Approximately 25% was self-inflicted. A 24% NBD rate was forecasted from 2015 through 2025. CONCLUSIONS Approximately 1 in 5 deaths were NBD. The majority were potentially preventable, including a significant proportion of self-inflicted injuries. A single comprehensive data repository would facilitate future mortality monitoring and performance improvement. These data may assist military leaders with implementing targeted safety strategies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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