While reporting bias may exist, nevertheless these results show that occupant restraint use confers substantial life-saving protection to HMMWV occupants in rollover accidents. Therefore, commanders, safety officers, and peers should continue to promote and enforce restraint use consistently during all Army ground operations and training involving HMMWVs. Doing so will save Soldiers' lives in rollover accidents during the remaining years of the HMMWV program.
The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, This study analyzed reported occupant restraint use among U.S. Army Soldiers who were injured in High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) rollover accidents reported to the U.S. Army Combat Readiness / Safety Center. During the time period studied (1989 through 2007), Soldiers who reportedly had not worn occupant restraints were three times more likely to die than Soldiers who reportedly had worn occupant restraints during a HMMWV rollover accident. Wearing occupant restraints could have saved 69 percent of Soldiers' lives lost from being unrestrained in HMMWV rollover accidents and 41 percent of all Soldiers' lives lost in HMMWV rollover accidents during the time period studied, reducing total fatality costs by 59 percent ($3.8 to $12.7 million). These findings support the use of occupant restraints as a life-saving, injury-mitigating and cost-saving countermeasure in HMMWV rollover accidents. More command and peer-to-peer enforcement of mandatory restraint use in HMMWVs and other tactical vehicles used in Army operations is necessary.
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER
SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S)High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, HMMWV rollover accidents, HMMWV rollover accident prevention, HMMWV rollover injuries, HMMWV rollover injury prevention
Background: This study analyzed the prevalence of mental disorders among appendectomy patients, comparing differences between patients with and without mental disorders to explore the potential for a psychiatric cost-offset effect. Methods: Records of 209,822 appendectomy patients age 18 and older were abstracted from 1994-2009 Florida hospital discharge data. Chisquare tests, t-tests, and logistic regression were performed. Results: Of the study population, 5.1% were diagnosed with a mental disorder. Odds for psychotic, schizophrenic, affective, neurotic, and depressive disorders were significantly greater above age 28. Females had significantly greater odds for affective, neurotic, and depressive disorders. Negative appendectomy was significantly positively associated with neurotic and other mental disorders. Irritable bowel syndrome and ill-defined rightlower abdominal pain were each independently significantly associated with neurotic, depressive, and other mental disorders. Psychotic and schizophrenic disorders were significantly associated with lengths of stay above two days, and other mental disorders above three days. Affective, neurotic, depressive, and other mental disorders were significantly associated with hospital charges totaling $18,941 or more, psychotic disorders totaling $26,860 or more, and schizophrenic disorders totaling $39,106 or more. Conclusions: Longer stays and higher charges incurred by appendectomy patients diagnosed with mental disorders raise the prospect of a potential psychiatric cost-offset effect. Improved diagnosis of mental disorders and irritable bowel syndrome in patients presenting with functional abdominal pain suspected to be psychogenic in origin is indicated, as are referrals to appropriate mental and/or physical health treatment professionals.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.