Canetti, Elisa

Orr, Rob Marc

Schram, Ben

English

Injuries in the military are associated with interruptions in service, detract from capability and present a high financial and resource burden. Prior to injury prevention strategies being implemented, research is needed to further understand the circumstances of these injuries. Ankle injuries are among the most common injuries reported in military training.The ankle in particular is aproblematic area as many perceive it to not be a serious injury, despite the potential to lead to long term disability. The risk of recurrence is also considered to be high, with estimates of double the risk of a recurrent ankle sprain within the 12 months after an initial injury with further risk of ongoing pain and instability. In military personnel, risk ratios of recurrence of 2.8 [2.02-3.87] inmales and 2.83 [1.89-4.23] in females have been reported. The aim of this investigation was to profile ankle injuries suffered by both full time and part time Army personnel over a two-year period

Bond University Research Portal

Bond UniversityResearch RepositoryA Profile of Ankle Injuries in Australian Army SoldiersSchram, Ben; Orr, Rob Marc; Canetti, ElisaUnpublished: 11/02/2020Document Version:Peer reviewed versionLink to publication in Bond University research repository.Recommended citation(APA):Schram, B., Orr, R. M., & Canetti, E. (2020). A Profile of Ankle Injuries in Australian Army Soldiers. Postersession presented at 5th International Congress on Soldiers' Physical Performance, Quebec, Canada.General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.For more information, or if you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact the Bond University research repositorycoordinator.Download date: 12 Apr 2020A Profile of Ankle Injuries in Australian Army Soldiers Ben Schram1,Robin M Orr1, Elisa Canetti11Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Queensland, Australia. BackgroundInjuries in the military are associated with interruptions in service, detract from capability and present a high financial and resource burden. Prior to injury prevention strategies being implemented, research is needed to further understand the circumstances of these injuries. Ankle injuries are among the most common injuries reported in military training (1, 2, 3).The ankle in particular is a problematic area as many perceive it to not be a serious injury, despite the potential to lead to long term disability (4). The risk of recurrence is also considered to be high, with estimates of double the risk of a recurrent ankle sprain within the 12 months after an initial injury with further risk of ongoing pain and instability (5). In military personnel, risk ratios of recurrence of 2.8 [2.02-3.87] in males and 2.83 [1.89-4.23] in females have been reported. The aim of this investigation was to profile ankle injuries suffered by both full time and part time Army personnel over a two-year period. MethodsData from a two-year period 2012-2014 was obtained from the Department of Defence, detailing the locations, activities, natures and mechanisms of ankle injuries. Minor Personal Injuries (MPI) were injuries which did not require immediate hospitalization, whereas Serious Personal Injuries (SPI) did. Descriptive analyses were performed to determine the lead contributors of these types to ankle injuries, and ankle injury rates were calculated for each service type relative to days of exposure. ResultsA total of 1315 ankle injuries were reported, giving an incident rate of 2.1 recorded ankle injuries per 100 soldier years of service. Of these injuries, 1291 were deemed Minor Personal Injuries (MPI) and 24 as Serious Personal Injuries (SPI). MPIs were most commonly trauma to the ankle joint and ligaments (n=693), soft tissue (n=491) or due to fractures (n=54), with the ankle injuries most commonly occurring in Physical Training (n=457), Combat Training (n=267) or while walking (n=109). Ankle injuries were commonly due to Falls (n=832), gradual onset muscular stress (n=284) and muscular stress from handling objects (n=45). SPIs affecting the ankle were primarily fractures (n=10), soft tissue injuries (n=6) or dislocations (n=4), and occurred during Physical Training (n=4), while playing touch football (n=3) or while walking (n=3), due primarily to falls (n=12), contact with objects (n=4), or cumulative muscular stress (n=3). MINOR INJURY SERIOUS INJURYConclusions Targeted approaches to minimizing these ankle injuries should focus on reducing risks of slips, trips and falls during both Physical Training and Combat Training. Previous ankle injuries need to be rehabilitated completely so they do not contribute to re-injury. Operational RelevanceInjuries to the ankle are common in tactical environments and recurrence rates are the highest of all lower limb musculoskeletal injuries. Attempts should be made to identify causes and minimize first time occurrences where possible. References:1. Robinson M, Siddall A, Bilzon J, Thompson D, Greeves J, Izard R, et al. Low fitness, low body mass and prior injury predict injury risk during military recruit training: a prospective cohort study in the British Army. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2016;2(1).2. Kaufman KR, Brodine S, Shaffer R. Military training-related injuries: Surveillance, research, and prevention. Am J Prev Med. 2000;18(3):54-63.3. Kucera KL, Marshall SW, Wolf SH, Padua DA, Cameron KL, Beutler AI. Association of Injury History and Incident Injury in Cadet Basic Military Training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(6):1053.4. Havenetidis K, Kardaris D, Paxinos T. Profiles of Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Greek Army Officer Cadets During Basic Combat Training. Mil Med. 2011;176(3):297-303.5. Hupperets MDW, Verhagen EALM, van Mechelen W. Effect of unsupervised home-based proprioceptive training on recurrences of ankle sprain: randomised controlled trial. BMJ (Clinical research ed). 2009;339:b2684.Nature of Injury Number ARA ARESTrauma to joint and ligament 693 611 82Soft Tissue injury 491 441 50Fracture 54 52 2Dislocation 28 28 0Contusion/Bruising/Crushing 14 11 3*Collated Others 11 9 2TOTAL 1291 1152 139Activity Number ARA ARESPhysical Training 457 423 34Combat Training 267 212 55Walking 109 95 14Marching 85 66 19Football/Soccer 75 74 1*Collated Others 298 282 16TOTAL 1291 1152 139Mechanism Number ARA ARESFalls 832 729 103Muscular Stress 284 264 20Muscular Stress while handling/lifting/carrying45 40 5Being hit by moving objects 66 64 2Stepping/kneeling/sitting on objects18 15 3*Collated Others 46 40 6TOTAL 1291 1152 139Nature of Injury Number ARA ARESFractures 10 9 1Soft tissue injuries 6 5 1Dislocation 4 4 0Trauma to joint and ligaments 4 0 0TOTAL 24 22 2Activity Number ARA ARESPhysical Training (PT) 4 4 0Football Touch 3 3 0Walking 3 3 0Combat Training 2 2 0Manual/Materials Handling 2 0 2*Collated Others 10 10 0TOTAL 24 22 2Mechanism Number ARA ARESFalls 12 12 0Muscular stress 3 3 0Muscular stress while handling /lifting/ carrying 2 1 1Hitting moving or stationary objects 4 4 0Other 1 0 1Vehicle accident 2 2 0TOTAL 24 22 2tru.bond.edu.au

A Profile of Ankle Injuries in Australian Army Soldiers

https://pure.bond.edu.au/ws/files/35143867/6._5th_ICSPP_ANKLE_POSTER_Schram.pdf

A Profile of Ankle Injuries in Australian Army Soldiers

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Bond University Research Portal