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A systematic review of post-deployment injury-related mortality among military personnel deployed to conflict zones
- Source :
- BMC Public Health, Vol 9, Iss 1, p 231 (2009), BMC Public Health
- Publication Year :
- 2009
- Publisher :
- BMC, 2009.
-
Abstract
- Background This paper reports on a systematic review of the literature on the post-conflict injury-related mortality of service members who deployed to conflict zones. Methods Literature databases, reference lists of articles, agencies, investigators, and other sources were examined to find studies comparing injury-related mortality of military veterans who had served in conflict zones with that of contemporary veterans who had not served in conflict zones. Injury-related mortality was defined as a cause of death indicated by International Classification of Diseases E-codes E800 to E999 (external causes) or subgroupings within this range of codes. Results Twenty studies met the review criteria; all involved veterans serving during either the Vietnam or Persian Gulf conflict. Meta-analysis indicated that, compared with non-conflict-zone veterans, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in Vietnam (summary mortality rate ratio (SMRR) = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.08–1.46) during 9 to 18 years of follow-up. Similarly, injury-related mortality was elevated for veterans serving in the Persian Gulf War (SMRR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.16–1.37) during 3 to 8 years of follow-up. Much of the excess mortality among conflict-zone veterans was associated with motor vehicle events. The excess mortality decreased over time. Hypotheses to account for the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans included post-traumatic stress, coping behaviors such as substance abuse, ill-defined diseases and symptoms, lower survivability in injury events due to conflict-zone comorbidities, altered perceptions of risk, and/or selection processes leading to the deployment of individuals who were risk-takers. Conclusion Further research on the etiology of the excess mortality in conflict-zone veterans is warranted to develop appropriate interventions.
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Warfare
business.industry
Mortality rate
lcsh:Public aspects of medicine
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Poison control
lcsh:RA1-1270
Suicide prevention
Occupational safety and health
humanities
Military personnel
Military Personnel
Environmental health
Cause of Death
Injury prevention
Epidemiology
medicine
Humans
Wounds and Injuries
business
health care economics and organizations
Cause of death
Research Article
Veterans
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712458
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMC Public Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4cad99a19cbd6090e687f143c258dfa1