Analysis of traumatism in officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus (2003–2020)
Authors: Evdokimov V. I. , Chernov D. A. , Sivashchenko P. P. , Vetoshkin A. A. , Mukhina N. A. 
Published: September 2021

Relevance. Traumatism in military personnel is defined as injuries and their consequences occurring over a specified period of time, usually over a year. Trauma rates in the Armed Forces (AF) are important for occupational safety.

Intention: To compare trauma rates in officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus over 18 years (2003–2020).

Methodology. Medical reports on the state of health of personnel and activities of the medical service were selectively analysed according to Form 3 / MED from those military units where no less than 80% of the total number of officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus served. Blocks of injuries are consistent with Chapter XIX «Injuries, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes» of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Problems Related to Health, 10th revision (ICD-10). Injuries were calculated per 1000 officers (‰), mortality - per 100 thousand officers.

Results and Discussion. Among officers of the Russian AF and Belarusian AF in 2003–2020, there were observed average annual rates of injuries (17.25 ± 1.33) and (13.37 ± 1.43) ‰, respectively; hospitalizations with injuries (10.68 ± 0.64) and (7.13 ± 0.81) ‰ (p < 0.01); work days lost (344.4 ± 26.4) and (299.9 ± 25.6) ‰; dismissal rates (0.356 ± 0.068) and (0.118 ± 0.022) ‰; and injury-related mortality (47.24 ± 3.71) and (33.37 ± 5.40) (p < 0.05) per 100 thousand officers of the Russian AF and Belarusian AF, respectively. The congruence (consistency) of trends for injuries, hospitalizations and work days lost among officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus was considered positive and strong, while mortality trends were positively and moderately consistent, thus indicating effects of similar (unidirectional) military occupational factors. Polynomial trends in the dynamics of injuries, hospitalizations, work days lost and mortality among officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus with high determination coefficients showed a decrease. Injuries to the head (Block 1 according to ICD-10), injuries to the hip and lower limbs (Blocks 8-10), injuries involving multiple body regions (Block 11), and injuries to the shoulder girdle and upper limbs (Blocks 5-7) were of high military epidemiological significance for officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus. In addition, sequelae of injuries, of poisoning and of other consequences of external causes (Block 22) turned out to be significant for the Russian AF officers, and injuries to the thorax (Block 3) were significant for the Belarusian AF officers. The above blocks accounted for 88.6 and 85.5% of assessed military epidemiological significance among Russian and Belarusian AF officers, respectively.

Conclusion. Traumatism can be managed and is not limited to medical issues. Various military professionals should be actively involved in the analysis of the causal relationships of injuries and their prevention. For example, among officers of the AF of Russia and Belarus injuries often occur during physical training and sports (9.8 and 6.1%, respectively) and during off-duty time (40.4 and 61.2%, respectively).