Military medicine
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This study sought to examine the efficacy of integrating medical device alarms into the intercommunication set of a simulated HH-60, allowing medics to hear the alarms over the ambient noise of the aeromedical environment. ⋯ Although the study was underpowered, the trends in the data indicate a benefit to the medics when integrating medical device alarms. When coupled with strongly favorable end-user feedback, the results provide justification for pursuing the effort of integrating alarms and performing future studies with improved integration systems to optimize the potential of the system.
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Dizziness is prevalent in the general population, but little is known about its prevalence in the U.S. military population. Dizziness is commonly associated with blast exposure and traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the potential independent contributions of blast and TBI have yet to be evaluated. This study's goal was to estimate the prevalence of dizziness among post-9/11 service members and Veterans and to examine independent and joint associations between military TBI history, blast exposure, and self-reported dizziness. ⋯ Self-reported dizziness was prevalent in this sample of service members and Veterans. Probable TBI history, with or without blast exposure, was associated with dizziness, but blast exposure without TBI history was not. This suggests that treatment guidelines for TBI-related dizziness may not need to be tailored to the injury mechanism. However, future efforts should be directed toward the understanding of the pathophysiology of TBI on self-reported dizziness, which is fundamental to the design of treatment strategies.
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Knowing when suicidal ideation (SI) or suicide attempt (SA) is most likely to occur in a deployed environment would aid in focusing prevention efforts. This study aims to determine when evacuation for SA and SI is most likely to occur based on the absolute and relative number of months in a deployed setting. ⋯ Specific points along a deployment timeline were significant predictors for being evacuated for SI and SA.
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To assist in addressing medical readiness challenges, the DOD has established various Centers of Excellence to focus efforts to protect, treat, train, and educate service members concerning risks and potential injuries. Using the hearing health domain as a pilot, this effort used DOD methods to evaluate all facets of successful health behavior change (HBC) practices within a military environment and developed a framework and pathway for HBC. ⋯ Use of the "Guidebook for Design, Conduct and Assessment of Health Behavior Change Campaign Within the DOD" and DOTMLPF-P analysis will move Defense Health Agency toward more disciplined use of the JCIDS. The HBC framework allowed the Hearing Center of Excellence to lead the hearing health community to create a capability-based assessment for hearing HBC.
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Chronic pain and lifestyle habits, namely alcohol consumption and tobacco use, impact soldier readiness. This study examines the relationship between chronic pain and these lifestyle habits in soldiers seen at the Interdisciplinary Pain Management Center (IPMC). ⋯ The results suggest that addressing alcohol consumption is an essential part of chronic pain treatment. The finding of a negative association between years of nicotine use and pain intensity suggests that nicotine use may have served as a coping mechanism. Further research is needed.