Eye Injury Surveillance in the U.S. Department of Defense, 1996–2005

Background Consistent with the public health approach to prevention, surveillance analyses are needed to fully understand a health problem. U.S. military eye injury rates have not been fully described using medical surveillance data. Methods Medical visit data on active duty personnel, 1996–2005, and causes of eye injury hospitalizations (identified by Standard NATO Agreement injury cause codes) were obtained from the Defense Medical Surveillance System. Eye injury–related ICD-9-CM codes beyond the traditional 800–999 injury code set were included. Rates by age and gender are reported for 1996–2005, along with the frequency of causes of injury hospitalizations and leading eye injury diagnoses for 2005. Results Eye injury rates among active duty military personnel increased from 1996 to 2005 among both men and women ( p