Financial costs to the U.S. Army for suicides by newly enlisted Soldiers

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the financial burden to the U.S. Army of suicide by enlisted Soldiers during their first year of service. Methods: This analysis included new Army enlisted Soldiers who started initial entry training from October 2012 through September 2016 and subsequently died by suicide within their first year of service. Outpatient and inpatient direct medical, direct nonmedical, recruiting, and training costs to the Army were calculated. Results: During the 48-month observational study period, 29 Soldiers died by suicide within their respective first year of service. The described financial costs accrued by the Army as a result of these deaths were $152,271-with an average of $6,091 per healthcare utilizer. Recruiting and training costs were $1,115,860 for all suicide cases. Conclusion: Average direct cost per healthcare utilizer increased during a Soldier's first year of service. This may be associated with the transition through different phases of training and to the first operational duty station. Public Health Implications: Results obtained through this cost-of-illness analysis may serve as baseline metrics to inform future cost-effectiveness studies.

Effects of COVID-19-Associated Infection Control on the Pattern of Infections Imported by German Soldiers and Police Officers Returning from Predominantly Tropical Deployment Sites

“…Irrespective of any normative interpretations on the appropriateness of chosen antipandemic measures, the experience reported by the Israeli and US American colleagues above [7,8] shows that strict infection control measures necessarily come with a price defined by undesired effects apart from infectious disease transmission prevention. Partly controversially discussed undesired effects among military personnel comprised overweight and diabetic diathesis due to reduced physical activity [9][10][11], age-dependent and predisposition-dependent increases in suicide rates [12][13][14], compensatory increases in risky sexual activity [15,16], affective disorders [17], higher rates of gambling problems [18] and considerable burn-out rates in military medical health staff [19]. Typical for such multifactorially influenced medical conditions, it is difficult to define which effects have been in response to the medical impact of COVID-19 itself or to side effects of the anti-pandemic response on the individuals' social life and well-being.…”

The Construction of Critical Factors for Successfully Introducing Chatbots into Mental Health Services in the Army: Using a Hybrid MCDM Approach

“…A significant amount of research has revealed that military personnel are at a higher risk than civilians of experiencing psychological disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [3][4][5][6], anxiety [7][8][9], depression [10][11][12], suicide and suicidal ideation [13][14][15], and insomnia and sleep disturbances [15][16][17]. In turn, this results in immense financial expenditure and social costs [18][19][20][21]. However, research has suggested that military personnel exhibit negative intentions to seek help and are reluctant to honestly disclose their actual psychological state because of the stigma attached to mental health problems, as well as fear of the negative impact on their professional careers [22][23][24][25][26].…”