268656 Measuring the health and economic impact of basic combat training injuries in the U.S. Army

Monday, October 29, 2012

Maria T. Bulzacchelli, PhD , Department of Public Health, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA
Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio, PhD , School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA
Sandra Sulsky, MPH, PhD , Epidemiology, ENVIRON International Corporation, Amherst, MA
Lee Karlsson, MScPH , Health Sciences, ENVIRON International Corporation, Amherst, MA
Rose Luippold, MS , Epidemiology, ENVIRON International Corporation, Amherst, MA
Owen Hill, PhD, MPAS , Military Performance Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA
Background/Purpose: Injuries have a substantial impact on the US Army. A large proportion of Army injuries occur during physical training, adversely affecting individual well-being and mission-readiness. Nevertheless, no Army-wide epidemiologic and economic analysis describing injuries during basic combat training (BCT) has been completed to date. Methods: This record-based cohort study uses the Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database (TAIHOD). TAIHOD links data from several administrative systems, including personnel and medical encounter data from military and civilian treatment facilities. The study population is all new Active Duty Army recruits undergoing BCT between 2003 and 2008. Results/Outcomes: Recruit demographic characteristics, pre-accession medical and fitness data, BCT dates and locations, and medical encounters during training will be described. Methodological challenges related to use of administrative data for identifying BCT cohorts and estimating medical care costs for various types of injuries will be discussed. Conclusions: Routinely collected administrative data can be used to: 1) estimate the incidence of BCT-related injuries by type and severity; 2) estimate the direct health care costs of BCT-related injuries; 3) identify the most costly types of injuries; and 4) identify risk factors for high-cost BCT-related injuries. Results can be used for evidence-based interventions to reduce the health and economic burden of injuries.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the strengths and limitations of using administrative data for Army-wide studies

Keywords: Data/Surveillance, Economic Analysis

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a health economist who has worked on multiple grants completing economic analyses on large datasets.
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.

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