221010 Fall-related injuries as a leading cause of injury among deployed Army soldiers

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Shuva Dawadi, MPH , Injury Prevention Program, US Army Public Health Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Keith G. Hauret, MSPH, MPT , Injury Prevention Program, US Army Public Health Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Bonnie J. Taylor, PhD , Injury Prevention Program, US Army Public Health Command (Provisional), Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Bruce H. Jones, MD, MPH , Injury Prevention Program, US Army Public Health Command (Provisional), Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Introduction: Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in the United States (U.S.). For the U.S. Army in 2008, falls (including near-falls) were the leading cause of unintentional injury hospitalizations (18%). During the Persian Gulf War (1990-91), falls were the 2nd leading cause of non-battle injury (NBI) hospitalizations (19%) among deployed Army soldiers. Purpose: The objective of this investigation was to describe the incidence of serious fall-related NBIs requiring medical air evacuation of soldiers deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Methods: Air evacuation records were reviewed for soldiers medically evacuated from Iraq or Afghanistan for NBIs (January 2001–December 2008). Narrative case history and diagnosis were used to classify cause of injury, fall type, and injury type. Descriptive statistics were used to report incidence of fall-related injuries (including near-falls), fall types, and injury types. Results: Overall 15,739 soldiers were air evacuated for an NBI. Of injuries with an identifiable cause (n=10,265), falls were the leading injury cause comprising 25% of NBIs (n=2,617; rate: 3 /1,000 person-years). Fall types included falls from one level to another (30%), on a single level (30%), alighting vehicles (10%), from stairs/ladder (6%), and near-falls (24%). Leading fall injury types were fractures (36%), dislocations (19%) and sprains (13%). Conclusion: Falls were the leading cause (25%) of serious NBIs air evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan. These injuries, many of which are preventable, negatively impact soldier work performance and unit readiness during deployments. Development of prevention strategies targeted at specific fall types is required to lessen this impact.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the incidence of fall-related injuries that required medical air evacuation from Iraq and Afghanistan during the current deployments (2001-2008) (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, respectively). 2. Describe the distribution of fall types among deployed soldiers, and compare this to the types of falls among non-deployed soldiers. 3. Describe the distribution of injury types and body regions for fall-related injuries among deployed soldiers, and compare this to the injury types and body regions among non-deployed soldiers.

Keywords: Occupational Injury and Death, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am a member of the deployment surveillance service program where we conduct routine and ongoing surveillance for injuries among active duty Army service members. I was the lead analyst in this investigation that looked at fall-related injuries among deployed Army service members.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.