Health profiles of military women and the impact of combat-related injury
APA Citation:
MacGregor, A. J., Zouris, J. M., Dougherty, A. L., & Dye, J. L. (2021). Health profiles of military women and the impact of combat-related injury. Women’s Health Issues, 31(4), 392–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2021.03.009
Focus:
Deployment
Physical health
Branch of Service:
Army
Air Force
Marine Corps
Navy
Multiple branches
Military Affiliation:
Active Duty
Subject Affiliation:
Active duty service member
Population:
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Authors:
MacGregor, Andrew J., Zouris, James M., Dougherty, Amber L., Dye, Judy L.
Abstract:
Purpose The role of women in the United States military is expanding. Women are now authorized to serve in all military occupations, including special operations and frontline combat units, which places them at increased risk of combat exposure and injury. Little is known regarding the impact of these injuries on the health of military women. Methods We conducted a retrospective matched cohort study of women service members who were injured during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Injured women were individually matched to non-injured controls at a 1:4 ratio. Medical diagnostic codes were abstracted from outpatient encounters in electronic health records, and hierarchical clustering was conducted to identify clusters of diagnostic codes, termed “health profiles.” Conditional logistic regression was used to determine whether combat-related injury predicted membership in the profiles. Results The study sample included 590 injured women and 2360 non-injured controls. Cluster analysis identified six post-deployment health profiles: low morbidity, anxiety/headache, joint disorders, mixed musculoskeletal, pregnancy-related, and multimorbidity. Combat-related injury predicted membership in the anxiety/headache (odds ratio, 1.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.38–2.16) and multimorbidity (odds ratio, 3.43; 95% confidence interval, 2.65–4.43) profiles. Conclusions Combat-related injury is associated with adverse post-deployment health profiles among military women, and women with these profiles may experience increased health care burden. As future conflicts will likely see a greater number of women with combat exposure and injury, health outcomes research among military women is paramount for the purposes of medical planning and resource allocation.
Publication Type:
Article
Keywords:
special operations, military women, injured service women