Military medicine
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We evaluated the risk factors associated with gastrointestinal disorders (GD) among the soldiers of the Army and Marine Aviation community (AMAC) using an exposomic approach. Specifically, we aimed to determine the medical and operational factors associated with reported GD in the Military Health System. ⋯ The high-risk categories associated with GD in the AMAC included age, BMI, race (not ethnicity), marital status, and service time. Our data also show that deployment time, not geographical location, was associated with a higher risk of GD. Together, these analyses suggest that White ADSMs older than 33 years of age who have experienced marriage, longer service time, and deployments appear to have a higher risk of GDs. Our assessment shows the utility of using an exposomic approach to create a member-specific, big data-informed personalized clinical algorithm of health outcomes.
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Illnesses among Navy divers degrade readiness, decrease manpower levels, and increase costs for medical care. Prior research has shown that Navy divers have high rates of the types of illnesses that might be because of diving in contaminated water. The objectives of this study were to examine medical records of U.S. Navy Sailors from 2016 to 2022 and determine if divers have higher incidence rates of health conditions that might be associated with contaminated water diving compared to non-divers. ⋯ The high RRs found for otitis externa and ear disorders support the need to devote resources to better understand the reasons for these higher risks and to develop, test, and implement targeted risk-reduction strategies. Future studies should attempt to link verified contaminated water exposures with adverse health outcomes and calculate risks based on criteria such as age and dive factors.
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Observational Study
Development and Evaluation of the Advanced Joint Airway Management System for Educational Utility in Endotracheal Intubation, as Assessed by Expert Paramedic Instructors.
Between 2011 and 2014, The Combat Casualty Training Consortium research study sought to evaluate all aspects of combat casualty care, including mortality, with a special focus on the incidence and causes of potentially preventable deaths among U.S. combat fatalities. This study identified a major training gap in critical airway management. To address this gap, the Advanced Joint Airway Management System (AJAMS) was designed and assessed for physical fidelity and educational utility in a population of paramedic instructors. ⋯ These data suggest that physical fidelity is an important attribute in the design of simulators for health care, as perceived by expert instructors. These data illustrate that the AJAMS-integrated simulator demonstrates unparalleled physical fidelity, relative to commercially available airway management skill trainers.
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Comparative Study
Comparative Performance of Three Eye-Tracking Devices in Detection of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Acute Versus Chronic Subject Populations.
Presently, traumatic brain injury (TBI) triage in field settings relies on symptom-based screening tools such as the updated Military Acute Concussion Evaluation. Objective eye-tracking may provide an alternative means of neurotrauma screening due to sensitivity to neurotrauma brain-health changes. Previously, the US Army Medical Research and Development Command Non-Invasive NeuroAssessment Devices (NINAD) Integrated Product Team identified 3 commercially available eye-tracking devices (SyncThink EYE-SYNC, Oculogica EyeBOX, NeuroKinetics IPAS) as meeting criteria toward being operationally effective in the detection of TBI in service members. We compared these devices to assess their relative performance in the classification of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) subjects versus normal healthy controls. ⋯ Potential eye-tracking detection of mTBI, per training model outcomes, ranged from acceptable to excellent for the Acute mTBI group; however, it was less consistent for the Chronic mTBI group. The self-imposed targeted performance (AUC of 0.850) appears achievable, but further device improvements and research are necessary. Discriminant analysis models differed for the Acute versus Chronic mTBI groups, suggesting performance differences in eye-tracking. Although eye-tracking demonstrated sensitivity in the Chronic group, a more rigorous and/or longitudinal study design is required to evaluate this observation. mTBI injuries were not controlled for this study, potentially reducing eye-tracking assessment sensitivity. Overall, these findings indicate that while eye-tracking remains a viable means of mTBI screening, device-specific variability in data quality, length of testing, and ease of use must be addressed to achieve NINAD objectives and DoD implementation.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent among U.S. military personnel, but adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment is suboptimal. This study sought to identify factors that predict the adherence to PAP therapy of active duty military patients newly diagnosed with OSA. ⋯ Readiness for therapy, self-efficacy, confidence in putting into action the treatment plan, and worries about sleep are modifiable variables that may be targeted in programs to boost PAP adherence and usage among the military population. Future studies should explore the predictive aspects of each of these variables and identify interventions to improve them.