title: Risk factors for disability retirement among active duty Air Force personnel.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine risk factors for disability retirement in Air Force personnel, as well as the conditions contributing to disability retirement.
  
  
  METHODS
  A matched case-control study was conducted. Air Force personnel with accession records who were disability retired between 2002 and 2011 were included as cases. Controls were matched by accession year from the population of accessions not evaluated for disability at a ratio of 2:1. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine the odds of disability retirement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women and those aged 25 or older were significantly more likely to be disability retired. Deployment was also associated with disability retirement but was significantly protective. Among women, the odds of disability retirement did not vary when stratified by deployment history. Preexisting medical conditions were not associated with disability retirement. Psychiatric conditions were the most common condition type among those who were disability retired in the Air Force.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Additional studies are needed to assess risk factors for psychiatric disability, the most common disability retired condition, as well as to describe the role of occupation and combat exposure in disability retirement from the Air Force.
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
authors.forename: Hoda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elmasry
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
authors.forename: Marlene E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gubata
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Packnett
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Niebuhr
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cowan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D012179:Retirement; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult