Citation

Sharma J, Dixon J, Dalal S, Heagerty R, Spears I. J. R. Army Med. Corps 2017; 163(6): 406-411.

Affiliation

School of Social Sciences and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, UK Royal Army Medical Corps)

DOI

10.1136/jramc-2016-000657

PMID

29176004

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal injuries and attrition incurred during basic military training are a significant socioeconomic burden across many Defence Forces. In order to plan an injury prevention strategy, the purpose of this study was to quantify the regiment-specific musculoskeletal injury patterns and training outcomes.

METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of the Parachute (n=734), Guards (n=1044), Line (n=3472) and Gurkha (n=458) Regiments of the British Army recruits during a 26-week basic military training programme over a 2-year period. The participant demographic characteristics were: age 18.9 years (SD±2.3), height 176.5 cm (SD±7.80), mass 69 kg (SD±9.7) and body mass index 22.14 kg/m2 (SD±2.5).

RESULTS: The incidence of injuries (86%, 46%, 48% and 10%) was significantly different (p<0.001) as were the first time pass out rates (p=0.02) of 38%, 51%, 56% and 98% for Parachute, Guards, Line and Gurkha, respectively. Overuse injuries were more frequently reported than both acute and recurrent injuries in all regiments (X2=688.01, p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The disparity in injury incidence and training outcome between Infantry Regiments suggests that the demands of training be taken into account when devising injury prevention strategies.

© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Language: en

Keywords

musculoskeletal injury; overuse injury; recruit training; training outcome