"The third place 2019 MHSRS Young Investigator Competition award winner was Air Force Capt. Carl Beyer, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California and David Grant Air Force Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California. His research is titled, 'Risk Factors for Persistent Opioid Use and Clinically Recognized Opioid Abuse Following Battle Injury in United States Military Personnel.
Beyer’s is the first study to evaluate the prevalence of persistent opioid use following battle injury in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. His research found that almost 15% of injured warfighters in this cohort experienced persistent opioid use and 6.7% developed opioid abuse. Multidisciplinary interventions that target identified risk factors, such as reducing discharge opioid prescriptions and improving mental healthcare, might reduce the burden of opioid abuse in combat casualties."