A Retrospective analysis of Five Years Musculoskeletal Injury Data in British Infantry Recruits

Robert Heagerty, Jagannath Sharma* and Jane L Clayton

Background: Musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) has been identified as a threat to the effectiveness and productivity of military training organisations globally. The burden on the medical chain,occupational disposal and the loss of working days due to temporary functional restriction challenges organisational  efficiency and ultimately operational capability whilst also representing a signifi cant socioeconomic burden.The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has a moral, legal and professional responsibility to reduce the likelihood of avoidable injuries through sound risk assessment, application of best practice and determining effective prevention strategies.

Aim: The aim is to provide a retrospective observational analysis of fi ve years’ injury data collected at the Primary Care Rehabilitation Facility (PCRF) at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick (ITC). It is intended to add to the existing body of injury surveillance data and potentially provide justification and direction for future strategic interventions designed to address injury incidence.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational analysis of 4,777 musculoskeletal injuries presenting from a total inflow of 12,501 British Army Infantry recruits recorded over five consecutive training year’s between1st April 2012 to 31st March 2017. Injury incidence, site, type and week of training were recorded and analysed.

Results: The five-year cumulative incidence of the total recruit inflow was observed as 38.2% (95%  Confidence Interval (CI): 37.4-39.1%). The sub classification of injury incidence was: overuse (non-  fracture) 23.9% (95% CI: 23.1-24.6%), Trauma 8.8% (95% CI: 8.3-9.3%) and stress fractures (5.5%: CI 95%: 5.14-5.9%).All overuse injuries (including stress fractures) were most prevalent, accounting for 77.5% of all referrals to physiotherapy and represented the largest sub-classification of MSKI to result in medical discharge.

Conclusion: A review of MSKI data collected from fi ve consecutive training years at the British Infantry Training Centre highlighted the prevalence of MSKI within recruit trainees. The findings of this paper substantiate the requirement for on-going comprehensive analysis as a basis for identifying injury patterns as well as describing the impact of strategically introduced health promotion and injury prevention strategies such as Project OMEGA.

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Published on: Aug 19, 2017 Pages: 32-38

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/amm.000007
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