Longitudinal Health Research in the U.S. Navy.
Abstract
Longitudinal health research has important uses in military medicine including estimation of the distribution and relative risks of disease and injury in military populations, discovery of the determinants or causes so that prevention and control can be implemented, and definition of health care needs so that scarce medical resources can be optimally allocated. Three Navy longitudinal research programs are described in some detail and examples of methods and study results are presented. The Thousand Aviator Program, instituted in 1940, was a prospective study designed to determine the etiology of cardiovascular disease among naval aviators. The Submarine/Diver Program was a retrospective study which involved analysis of health effects associated with environmental conditions experienced aboard submarines. The general with environmental conditions experienced aboard submarines. The general epidemiological studies under the Active Duty Enlisted Personnel Program are designed to be either prospective or retrospective and to utilize the total archival inpatient medical data files of the U.S. Navy. Some of the limitations of classic epidemiologic methods and the need for more comprehensive morbidity models which incorporate dynamic risk factors are discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA130257
Entities
People
- E. K.Eric Gunderson
- Robert E. Mitchell
- Robert J. Biersner
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center