Should musculoskeletal injury prevention interventions target personal and/or organizational factors?

Abstract

Introduction: The nature of musculoskeletal injuries (MSKI) in the military setting is multi-factorial and complex, with risks relating both to personal and organizational factors. With back pain constituting one of the most common MSKI affecting Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) marines, including their work ability, preventive actions are highly warranted. Such preventive actions traditionally target factors related to the individual, but attention should also be focused on organizational factors to fully promote effective prevention. This session aims to present identified risks for back pain limiting work-ability in SAF marines and its possible generalizability to other similar groups, and to illustrate and discuss when prevention, primary-to-tertiary, are likely to be effective when also targeting factors related to the organizational level.