A Profile of Knee Injuries Suffered by Australian Army Reserve Soldiers

Abstract

Despite having to perform the same occupational tasks as full-time soldiers, part-time soldiers may have lower levels of physical conditioning and report higher rates of injury per unit exposure to active service. The purpose of this study was to profile the leading body site of injury occurring in part-time soldiers to inform injury prevention strategies. Injury data from the Australian Army Reserve (ARES) spanning a two-year period were obtained from the Department of Defence Workplace Health, Safety, Compensation and Reporting database pertaining to locations, nature, mechanisms, and the activity being performed at the time of injury. Among the 1434 injuries reported by ARES personnel, the knee was the most common injury site (n = 228, 16%). Soft tissue injury due to trauma or unknown causes was the most common nature of knee injury (n = 177, 78%). Combat training was the most common activity being performed when soft tissue injuries occurred at the knee (n = 73, 42%), with physical training the second most common (n = 51, 30%), due to muscular stress (n = 36, 71%) and falls (n = 8, 16%). Targeted intrinsic and extrinsic approaches to injury minimization strategies for soft tissue knee injuries during combat and physical training should be designed.

Profiling the Injuries Sustained by Police Trainees Undergoing Initial Training: A Retrospective Cohort Study

“…Larsen et al [ 37 ] investigated the injury profile of Australian Specialist Police and found that sprains and strains were the most common nature of injury, accounting for 61% of total injuries. Similar findings are reported in the military population, with a study on lower limb injuries in the New Zealand Defence Force finding strains and sprains of the ankle and knee represented 51% of total injuries [ 34 ], while a study of injuries in Australian Army soldiers found strains and sprains to represent 60% of minor personal injuries [ 52 ]. As such, the proportions of injuries that were observed to be sprains and strains in this police population present as consistent with not only other police services, but military services as well.…”

A Profile of Injuries Sustained by Firefighters: A Critical Review

“…This variability makes establishing a detailed volume of evidence difficult without the use of broad categories (like ‘lower extremity’ as a bodily site), which reduces result sensitivity. While these challenges are not new and have been reported in the literature [6,51], they do highlight the need for future research to be conducted with better methodological quality. Larger, prospective cohort studies using consistent injury definitions so as to allow for results that can be applied across the firefighter population serve as an example.…”

Ability of fitness testing to predict injury risk during initial tactical training: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Finally, the populations included studies followed are known for under-reporting their injuries, especially when the reporting mechanism is not point of care 51 52. Pope and Orr53 identified this phenomenon in a comparison of reporting systems, concluding that between 80% and 90% of all injuries sustained by Australian Army personnel that may require healthcare intervention are not reported to a collection database when compared with a ‘point of care’ injury reporting system often used in research.…”