Variations in the incidence and burden of illnesses and injuries among non-retiree service members in the earliest, middle, and last 6 months of their careers, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2000-2015.

This report uses routinely collected data in the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS) to characterize the incidence and burden of medical conditions throughout the careers of service members separating from the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2015. Three surveillance periods between 30 September 2000 and 30 September 2015 were defined by each individual's time in service: early (first 6 months), middle (middle 6 months), and late (last 6 months). Overall, separating service members were most often aged 25-34 years (59.4%), male (84.0%), non-Hispanic white (64.0%), junior enlisted (52.4%), in the Marine Corps (33.1%), serving in a repair/engineering occupation (33.0%), and had never deployed (52.5%). The top five burden of disease categories across surveillance periods by sex were remarkably similar, including mental health disorders, which exhibited similar upward trends across the three surveillance periods (males: 1.3%, 17.0%, and 35.6%; females: 1.8%, 15.1%, and 32.4%, respectively). The most common diagnoses exhibiting upward, downward, or bimodal trends by incidence rate differences were mental health disorders, respiratory infections/diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases, respectively.