Divergent trends in accidental deaths since return from an Afghanistan/Iraq deployment among army soldiers.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Accidental death is a leading cause of mortality among military members and Veterans; however, knowledge is limited regarding time-dependent risk following deployment and if there are differences by type of accidental death.

Methods

Longitudinal cohort study (N = 860,930) of soldiers returning from Afghanistan/Iraq deployments in fiscal years 2008-2014. Accidental deaths (i.e., motor vehicle accidents [MVA], accidental overdose, other accidental deaths), were identified through 2018. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates, rate ratios, time-dependent hazard rates and trends postdeployment were compared across demographic and military characteristics.

Results

During the postdeployment observation period, over one-third of deaths were accidental; most were MVA (

SUBMITTER: Adams RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10973698 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature