A Comparison of Injuries, Limited-Duty Days, and Injury Risk Factors in Infantry, Artillery, Construction Engineers, and Special Forces Soldiers

ABSTRACTObjectives: We compared injuries/risk factors in infantry soldiers (I), construction engineers (CE), combat artillery (CA), and Special Forces (SF) during their operational and fitness activities. Methods: Anthropometrics, ethnicity, and fitness data were collected before review of medical records. Results: Injury rates for I, CE, and CA were 4.0, 7.2, and 5.5 injuries/100 soldier-months, respectively; over 70% of them resulted from overuse. SF soldiers had an injury rate of 3.5 injuries/100 soldier-months, 50% of them reported as traumatic. Average limited-duty days (LDDs) were threefold higher in SF. Smoking, BMI ≥25, and APFT run time for 3.2 km >14 minutes were risk factors in I. Caucasian ethnicity, height 27 years old was a risk factor in SF. Conclusions: Greater emphasis should be placed on risk factor identification and testing strategies to reduce injuries among SF and other troops.