Stars and Stripes reports that “nearly half of a group of infantry soldiers who had seen combat in Afghanistan have reported experiencing chronic pain and 15 percent said they recently used opioid pain relievers, according to a study released Monday.”  

“Of 2,597 active-duty Army troops surveyed three months after their redeployment, 44 percent said they experienced recurring or unceasing pain after returning from Afghanistan, according to the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine.”  

“The number of soldiers affected by chronic pain was a surprise to researchers, said Robin L. Toblin, the lead author of the study, one of the first to quantify the impact of recent wars on the prevalence of pain and narcotic use among soldiers.”