Long-term impact of battle injuries; five-year follow-up of injured Dutch servicemen in Afghanistan 2006-2010.

OBJECTIVES:Units deployed to armed conflicts are at high risk for exposure to combat events. Many battle casualties (BCs) have been reported in the recent deployment to Afghanistan. The long-term impact of these combat injuries, at their five-year end point, is currently unknown. To date, no systematic inventory has been performed of an identified group of BCs in comparison to non-injured service members from the same operational theatre. DESIGN:Observational cross-sectional cohort study. SETTING:Open online survey among Dutch BCs that deployed to Afghanistan (2006-2010). PARTICIPANTS:The Dutc... Mehr ...