Deaths in the UK regular armed forces: Annual summary and trends over time 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019
Abstract: This annual National Statistical Notice provides summary information on deaths whilst in service in 2019 among the UK regular armed forces, and trends over the ten-year period, 2010-2019. This information updates previous notices and includes new data for 2019. The information presented has been compiled from data held by Defence Statistics on 1 February 2020. The data is presented for Tri-Service and separately for each of the services; Naval Service (Royal Navy and Royal Marines), Army (including Gurkhas) and Royal Air Force (RAF). This release provides information on the major categories of cause of death for the ten-year period 2010-2019 also presenting comparisons to the UK general population and the number of on-duty armed forces reservist deaths.
Abstract: Context: In response to the opioid crisis, federal guidelines were implemented, including the Veterans Health Administration's (VA) Opioid Safety Initiative in 2013. The impact of policies on patients near the end of life is unknown. Objective: Examine temporal trends in opioid prescribing, pain, and opioid overdoses among Veterans near the end of life. Methods: Retrospective, time series analysis of VA decedents between October 2009 and September 2018 whose next-of-kin participated in VA's Bereaved Family Survey (BFS). Using multivariate regression to adjust for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, we examined temporal trends in outpatient opioid prescribing, uncontrolled pain based on BFS report, and opioid overdose-related hospitalizations, in the last month of life, overall and by clinical diagnosis (cancer versus non-cancer). Results: Among 79,409 decedents, mean daily outpatient opioid dose in morphine milligram equivalents in the last month of life decreased from 4.6 mg in 2010 to 2.1 mg in 2018 (adjusted change -0.20 mg/year; P