Blast overpressure (BOP) exposure is an important, evolving, and highly visible topic with growing operational, clinical, and policy relevance for the U.S. Armed Forces. Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel are particularly vulnerable to repeated sub-concussive events from BOP because of their operational role and tempo, but conventional forces and other high-risk occupational groups may also experience...
No immediate change to clinical practice; this is a conceptual framework paper that sets the stage for future longitudinal research on blast-related concussion subtypes in military personnel.
Standardizing how blast-related concussion subtypes are classified in military populations could accelerate research into hearing and balance consequences of low-level blast exposure, a growing occupational health concern.
- 01Proposes a clinical-subtype classification framework for low-level blast exposure in U.S. military personnel.
- 02Intended to support longitudinal study design, with operational, clinical, and policy implications.
- 03Published in Military Medicine, 2026 (doi: 10.1093/milmed/usag327).
- 04Addresses a gap in standardized terminology for blast-related concussion research.
- 05Relevant to audiologists serving military or veteran populations managing blast-induced hearing/balance disorders.
A clinical-subtype framework for low-level blast exposure will improve longitudinal study of concussion in U.S. Armed Forces.
opinionpartially supported- PMID
- 42429612
- DOI
- 10.1093/milmed/usag327.
- Journal
- Military Medicine
- Publication type
- review
- Evidence level
- 5
- Population
- U.S. Armed Forces personnel with low-level blast exposure
- Intervention
- Clinical-subtype classification framework for low-level blast exposure and concussion
Primary outcomes
Proposed framework for longitudinal study of low-level blast-related concussion subtypes; Operational, clinical, and policy implications identified