Mortality During U.S. Armed Forces Basic Training: A 25-Year Review (1977-2001)
Abstract
Efforts to understand and prevent the rare, but tragic, occurrence of death among healthy, young military recruits trying to serve their country depend upon medical surveillance data and accurate determination of mortality rates by specific cause. The purpose of this study was to create a Recruit Mortality Registry that includes deaths that have occurred during Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Army basic military training from 1977 through 2001, and to describe the epidemiology of recruit mortality due to traumatic and nontraumatic deaths. Methods: Recruit deaths were identified and confirmed through redundant sources. Attempts were made to obtain a complete file on each death including all available medical and personnel records. Demographic, circumstantial, and medical information was recorded on an abstraction form developed for this study. Mortality rates per 100,000 recruit-years were calculated using recruit accession data from the Defense Manpower Data Center. Results: There were 276 recruit deaths from 1977 through 2001 identified through the Recruit Mortality Registry. Age-specific recruit mortality rates were less than half of same-age U.S. civilian mortality rates. Between Services, the age-adjusted mortality rates were highest in the Army and lowest in the Air Force and Navy, with the Marine Corps in between. The majority (71%) of recruit deaths were classified as nontraumatic and 69% (136/196) of these were exercise-related. Of the exercise-related deaths, 42% (57/136) were cardiac deaths and at least one-third (45/136) were related to heat stress. Infectious agents accounted for 24% (48/196) of the nontraumatic deaths. Only 29% (80/276) of recruit deaths were classified as traumatic. Of these, the majority (58%) were due to suicide, followed by unintentional injuries (37%), and homicide (5%).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA421540
Entities
People
- Stephanie L. Scoville
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences