#54 Fatal motor vehicle crashes among veterans of the gulf war era

Abstract

Abstract PURPOSE: Motor vehicle crashes (MVC) are the leading cause of death among military personnel, and deployment has been associated with an increased risk of fatal MVC within military populations. Gulf War (GW) deployment has also been associated with an increased risk of fatal MVC. We evaluated selected variables as predictors of fatal MVC among GW era veterans using existing Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Transportation (DoT) databases. METHODS: This is a nested case-control study of a cohort comprised of 696,516 Gulf War veterans and 746,291 non-deployed veterans. 1,343 cases of fatal MVC occurring between 1991 and 1995 were identified from the cohort by linking to the DoT Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Ten controls were selected per case, matched by gender and year of case ascertainment. We examined data on demographic and military characteristics; hospitalizations and outpatient visits; self-reported behaviors, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors; and possible GW exposures as potential risk factors for fatal MVC. RESULTS: Fatal MVC on US public roads that caused the death of the driver were not randomly distributed across our study population. Fatalities involving female drivers were few (n = 28). Male fatalities were more likely to be younger, less educated, and never married compared to controls. Cases were also more likely to be enlisted, deployed to the GW, have combat occupations, be in the Guard or Reserve, and be other than Air Force. Inpatient and outpatient data and socio-behavioral data, as well as information from FARS will be reported separately. CONCLUSION: Our findings are consistent with previous studies that have reported military deployment as a risk factor for fatal MVC. We also identified several other factors that increase this risk. Additional studies to investigate potential risk factors for all MVC, not just fatalities, are warranted so that appropriate interventions can be designed and evaluated.