INJURY RISK FACTORS AMONG ORDNANCE SCHOOL SOLDIERS.

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The only study that has previously examined injuries during US Army Advanced Individual Training (AIT) investigated soldiers training to be medics (Henderson, Milit Med 165:647, 2000). PURPOSE This study examined injury risk factors among 1243 male soldiers attending Ordnance School AIT (vehicle repair and maintenance occupational specialties) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. METHODS Overuse injury visits were complied from a medical surveillance system at the health clinic where all soldiers went for medical care. Within 3–5 days of arrival for school, soldiers performed the Army Physical Fitness Test (push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile run) and completed a questionnaire. To obtain risk ratios (RR), adjusted risk ratios (ARR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), data were analyzed using survival analysis (Cox regression) with the time to the first injury as the dependent variable. RESULTS The overuse injury rate was 0.92 injuries/person-year. Univariate Cox regression showed that increased injury risk was associated with lower military rank (lowest/highest RR = 2.3, CI = 1.2–4.4), self-reported prior injury (yes/no RR = 2.4, CI = 1.9–3.1), prior cigarette smoking (yes/no RR = 1.4, CI = 1.1–1.7), and low performance on push-ups (low/high = 2.4, CI = 1.8–3.3), sit-ups (low/high = 2.1, CI = 1.5–2.8) or the run (slow/fast RR = 2.4, CI = 1.8–3.2). Factors not significantly associated with injury were military occupational specialty (5 occupations), race, location of Basic Combat Training, self-reported illness, smokeless tobacco use, and age. Multivariate Cox regression involving all covariates indicated that increased injury risk was independently associated with self-reported prior injury (yes/no ARR = 2.3, CI = 1.7–3.3) and lower performance on push-ups (low/high ARR = 1.8, CI = 1.2–2.7), sit-ups (low/high ARR = 1.6, CI = 1.1–2.5), or the run (slow/fast ARR = 1.7, CI = 1.2–2.5). CONCLUSION Self-reported prior injury and physical fitness are independently associated with time to first overuse injury among soldiers in Ordnance School.