Military Occupations Most Affected by Head/Sensory Injuries and the Potential Job Impact of Those Injuries

Area of Science:

• Military Medicine
• Occupational Health
• Trauma Epidemiology

Background:

• Department of Defense (DoD) personnel are susceptible to head and sensory system injuries.
• Understanding injury patterns across military occupations is crucial for effective healthcare and readiness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify Department of Defense (DoD) occupations most affected by head and sensory system injuries.
• To analyze the impact of these injuries on critical job functions within specific military occupational specialties (MOSs).

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify occupations with high injury incidence.
• Ranked occupations across four injury categories (head/brain, visual, auditory, vestibular) using 25 injury codes.
• Focused detailed analysis on three Army combat MOSs: Infantry (11B), Cavalry Scout (19D), and Artillery (13B).

Main Results:

• Identified specific DoD occupations with disproportionately high rates of head and sensory injuries.
• Confirmed that Infantry, Combat Operations Control, Artillery/Gunnery, Motor Vehicle Operator, Combat Engineering, and Armor/Amphibious roles are particularly affected.
• Found that injuries to Infantry, Cavalry Scout, and Artillery MOSs can significantly disrupt job-critical tasks.

Conclusions:

• Head and sensory injuries significantly impact certain military occupations, particularly combat roles.
• A small subset of injuries affects job-critical and job-specific combat abilities.
• Rehabilitation and Return-to-Duty (RTD) efforts should prioritize these critical injury-skill disruptions.