Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database: A Model Comprehensive Research Database

摘要

The Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database (TAIHOD) comprises data on active duty Army soldiers from six Department of Defense (DoD) agencies. The TAIHOD is used for epidemiologic research and has three general types of data: demographics, health outcomes, and self-reported health habits. Demographic data include personal characteristics such as rank, age, and occupation; health outcome data such as hospitalizations, lost-time injuries, permanent disabilities, and fatalities; and self-reported health habit data such as diet, tobacco, and alcohol use. Data are linked by encrypted social security number. Linking these disparate databases is a good example of using administrative data for epidemiologic research. Researchers use structured data queries of the TAIHOD to investigate health problems and make recommendations about policy and the design and implementation of intervention. To date, the TAIHOD has been used to document the risk of hospitalization in certain Army occupations and to evaluate the association between seat belt use and hospitalization for motor vehicle crashes. The TAIHOD is regularly updated and expanded, by updating the present data sets and by incorporating new data sets. The TAIHOD is a valuable tool that enables researchers to improve the Army's health through epidemiologic research, and is a model comprehensive research database.