The Department of Defense Birth Defects Registry: Overview of a new surveillance system

Background: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is challenged with monitor ing and protecting the health and wellbeing of its service members. The gro wing number of women on active duty and the diverse hazardous exposures ass ociated with military service make reproductive health issues a special con cern of DoD. To address this concern, the DoD Birth Defects Registry was es tablished at the DoD Center for Deployment Health Research located at the N aval Health Research Center, San Diego, California. Methods: The registry captures comprehensive data on healthcare utilization to calculate the prevalence of birth defects in the children of military b eneficiaries. Population-based electronic surveillance is supplemented by a ctive case validation efforts. Results: Since its establishment in 1998, the registry has captured data on more than 90,000 births that occur in military families each year, Detaile d analyses, to include linking registry data with military occupational exp osure data (e.g., anthrax vaccination), are underway. Conclusions: The DoD Birth Defects Registry provides important reproductive health information on the geographically dispersed military population. Th is program is expected to complement civilian public health programs and be especially valuable to military members and their families. Teratology 64: S26-S29, 2001. Published 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.(dagger)