A Public Health Approach to Injury Prevention: The U.S. Military Experience

Abstract

TITLE: A Process to Identify Military Injury Prevention Priorities Based on Injury Type and Limited Duty Days. BACKGROUND: Injuries, one of the leading public health problems in an otherwise healthy military population, affect operational readiness, increase healthcare costs, and result in disabilities and fatalities. This paper describes a systematic, data-driven, injury prevention-decision making process to rank potential injury prevention targets. METHODS: Medical surveillance and safety report data on injuries for 2004 were reviewed. Non-fatal injury diagnoses (ICD-9-CM codes) obtained from the Defense Medical Surveillance System were ranked according to incident visit frequency and estimated limited duty days. Data on the top five injury types resulting in the greatest estimated limited duty days were matched with hospitalization and Service Safety Centers' accident investigation data to identify leading causes. Experts scored and ranked the causes using predetermined criteria that considered the importance of the problem, preventability, feasibility, timeliness of intervention establishment/results, and ability to evaluate. Department of Defense (DoD) and Service-specific injury prevention priorities were identified. RESULTS: Unintentional injuries lead all other medical conditions for number of medical encounters, individuals affected, and hospital bed days. The top ten injuries resulted in an estimated 25 million days of limited duty. Injury-related musculoskeletal conditions were a leading contributor to days of limited duty. Sports and physical training were the leading cause, followed by falls.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA511246

Entities

People

  • Bruce A. Ruscio
  • Bruce H. Jones
  • Bruce R. Burnham
  • Christopher P. Rennix
  • David A. Sleet
  • Jack W. Smith
  • Michelle Canham-chervak
  • Steven H. Bullock
  • Timothy. S. Wells

Organizations

  • United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Body Regions
  • Bone Fractures
  • Health
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Hygiene
  • Injury Prevention
  • Lower Extremity
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Public Health
  • Therapy
  • Upper Extremity
  • Wounds And Injuries

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Medical or Health Care Field.
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.