TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Activities and risk factors associated with fall-related injuries among US Army soldiers JO - BMJ military health A1 - Brooks, Raina D. A1 - Grier, T. A1 - Jones, B. H. A1 - Chervak, M. C. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - INTRODUCTION: Falls/near falls are the second leading cause of hospitalisation and outpatient visits among US Army soldiers. While numerous studies have evaluated fall-related or near fall-related injuries among elderly adults, few have evaluated this association among young adults. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics and risk factors associated with fall-related or near fall-related injuries among male US Army soldiers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of male US Army Airborne Division soldiers (n=5187). Electronic surveys captured demographic, lifestyle, physical training (PT), fitness and injury data during spring/summer of 2016. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors of fall-related or near fall-related injuries, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Primary findings indicated that activities and risk factors associated with fall-related or near fall-related injuries among soldiers included younger age (≤35 years), holding a job that required minimal lifting activities, slower 2-mile run times and not running during personal PT. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest that male US Army soldiers and other physically active men may benefit from (1) obtaining and/or maintaining higher aerobic endurance and muscular strength, and (2) training focused on preventing fall-related injuries during PT, road marching and sports/recreational activities. Moreover, prevention strategies and education should further target younger soldiers (≤35 years old), as younger age is not modifiable.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2633-3767 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001564 ID - ref1 ER -