USAFSAM’s Public Health Report helps achieve surgeon general’s vision

  • Published
  • By Kim Bowden
  • 711th Human Performance Wing
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --The U.S. Air Force Surgeon General’s vision is that the Air Force Medical Service supported population is “the healthiest and highest performing segment of the United States by 2025.” The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine -- part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing -- is helping him achieve that vision.

USAFSAM’s Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department has created the “Public Health Report,” a publication of their Epidemiology Consult Division.

“The Public Health Report provides guidance and ground truth examples to assist public and community health professionals in the systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and management of public health related data,” said Lt. Col Pauline Lucas, the division’s chief. “It also helps them characterize and manage that data effectively through all phases of public health practice.”

According to Lucas, the initial idea for the publication was to create an annual report assessing all public health databases at the installation level. However, the division decided to publish more frequently and also include health promotion information, based on risk indicators for chronic diseases affecting installation populations. The report is sent to 75 public health offices Air Force-wide.

“Some of the information we include is standard in each issue, such as the compilation and assessment of the data from 14 databases we track and utilize,” Lucas said. “A lot of that is data on infectious diseases. The rest of the information in the report is based on the latest ‘hot issues’ or recent consult questions from the various major commands or the Air Force Medical Operations Agency. For example, we’ve addressed the analysis of medical profile characteristics, the prevalence of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, combat arms exposure to emissions from copper-based frangible ammunition, the top ten leading causes of death among Air Force service members and the frequency of varenicline treatment in tobacco users.”

The report also includes tools for public health offices to create a similar, localized report if they so desire. The tools include a step-by-step instruction on how to conduct the analysis and how to acquire the datasets needed for the analysis.

“This is still a new effort,” said Lucas. “We’ve only published two issues so far, but the feedback we’ve received has been very positive. We’re hoping it continues to grow and becomes a part of the Air Force public health culture.”