Risk factors for lower leg, ankle and foot injuries during basic military training in the Maltese Armed Forces

Abstract

Please cite this article as: Psaila, M., Ranson, C., Risk factors for lower leg, ankle and foot injuries during basic military training in the Maltese Armed Forces, Physical Therapy in Sports (2016Sports ( ), doi: 10.1016Sports ( /j.ptsp.2016 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Design: This was a prospective cohort study. Setting: An armed forces barracks.Participants: 127 recruits commencing one basic military training course agreed to participate in the study. The cohort comprised 114 males and 13 females with a mean age of 21.7 ± 2.4 years. Main Outcome Measures:All injuries to the lower leg, ankle and foot were recorded using the Orchard Sports Injury Classification System. Injuries were analysed for associations with fitness scores, smoking status, body mass index and foot type.Results: A total of 34 (26.2%) recruits sustained at least one injury, with 10 recruits (7.9%) terminating their training prematurely (three due to musculoskeletal injury). Smoking history, body mass index and foot type were not associated with injury risk. Lower fitness levels at the commencement of basic military training compared with fitness levels measured six months prior, were associated with higher injury risk.Conclusions: Lower fitness at the commencement of basic training was associated with higher injury risk in army recruits. Thus, conditioning

Ability of fitness testing to predict injury risk during initial tactical training: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Three studies were from Finland,30–32 two studies originated from the UK,20 25 two from Israel,33 34 two from Australia35 36 and two from Switzerland 37 38. One study was from Malta 39…”

“…The evaluated injuries and nomenclature varied substantially across studies. Eleven studies included any musculoskeletal injury, while the other publications reported the following injury definitions: seven studies reported lower limb stress fractures,14 21 22 26 27 30 34 with one specifically considering femoral neck stress fractures17; two articles recorded any injury, without further description10 16; two articles considered any musculoskeletal injury requiring hospitalisation13 30; two articles considered musculoskeletal injury requiring referral14 20; one article was specific to time loss injury11; and one article reported any lower limb injury 39…”

Injuries in Australian Army full-time and part-time personnel undertaking basic training

“…The results in this study appear to be similar to what is found globally, with 28% of US army recruits suffering an injury (71% of injuries to the lower limb) during 8 weeks of basic training [12] and 28.3% of Greek Army Officer recruits suffering an injury during a seven week course, with 75.9% of those injuries being to the lower limb [25]. Likewise, 27.6% of recruits were reported to be injured in basic training in the Maltese Army on a 135 day course, with the lower limb being most commonly injured [26]. Similarly, the low back and lower extremity accounted for 71.5% of all injuries (90% of which were overuse) that led to attrition in basic training in the Israel Defence Force [27].…”

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Military Personnel from Northeast China: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…First, the recruits need to go through high-intensity military training, which is a psychologically and physically demanding process, for the purpose of achieving physical standards established by the army. 25 Extensive military training can cause mental stress, 26 which suppresses the body's humoral and cellular immunity and increases the risk of H. pylori infection. 15 Second, lots of young soldiers live collectively in a barrack and share the same dormitory.…”