Gender differences in load carriage injuries of Australian army soldiers

Orr, Rob Marc; Pope, Rodney

doi:10.1186/s12891-016-1340-0

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The gender equality in service-related injuries that we observed in our study is contradictory to previous military research [54, 55]. We did not have the data to conclude whether the two genders had distinct positions or were assigned to different tasks and operations in the military, which could influence service-related injuries.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…We did not have the data to conclude whether the two genders had distinct positions or were assigned to different tasks and operations in the military, which could influence service-related injuries. Furthermore, we combined several types of injuries into a broad and heterogeneous variable, potentially masking gender differences in injuries at certain anatomic locations [54, 56]. However, inconsistent results on the gender-specific risks of sustaining an injury in the military could reflect crucial differences between nations in military selection, training, equipment, health care, or in symptom reporting [57–59].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fit for fight – self-reported health in military women: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2019

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Background Substantial research has found that women assess their health as poor relative to men, but the reasons for this are not fully understood. Military women are characterised by good health and the ability to work in an archetypically male culture. Thus, studies on the gender pattern of self-reported health in military personnel could generate hypotheses for future research on the possible associations between gender and health. However, such studies are rare and limited to a few countries. The aim of this study was to examine self-reported physical and mental health in Norwegian military women. Methods We compared responses on self-reported health of 1068 active duty military women in Norway to those of active duty military men (n = 8100). Further, we compared the military women to civilian women working in the Norwegian Armed Forces (n = 1081). Participants were stratified into three age groups: 20–29; 30–39; and 40–60 years. We used Pearson Chi-square tests, Students t-tests and regression models to assess differences between the groups. Results The military women in our study reported physical illness and injuries equal to those of military men, but more military women used pain relieving and psychotropic drugs. More military women aged 20–29 and 30–39 years reported mental health issues than military men of the same age. In the age group 30–39 years, twice as many military women assessed their health as poor compared to military men. In the age group 40–60 years, more military women than men reported musculoskeletal pain. Military women used less smokeless tobacco than military men, but there were few differences in alcohol consumption and smoking. Military women appeared to be more physically healthy than civilian women, but we found few differences in mental health between these two groups. Conclusion Most military women reported physical symptoms equal to those of military men, but there were differences between the genders in mental health and drug use. More favourable health compared to civilian women was most evident in the youngest age group and did not apply to mental health.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fit for fight – self-reported health in military women: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2019

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“…A recent review by Lyons, et al [ 34 ] found that the majority of studies in law enforcement contexts that have investigated injuries included only male participants. Understanding differences in injury presentations between male and female officers is of importance as research has shown that, for examples, male and female tactical personnel can suffer from different lower limb musculoskeletal injuries [ 35 ] and that lower limb interventions to address gender-specific injuries are effective [ 36 ]. Furthermore, the review found that there were no standard injury definitions, with many of the included studies failing to include any definition at all [ 34 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiling lower extremity injuries sustained in a state police population: a retrospective cohort study

Lyons

Stierli²,

Hinton³

et al. 2021

BMC Musculoskelet Disord

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Background Tactical populations, such as military, firefighter and law enforcement populations, are known to suffer a relatively high number of musculoskeletal injuries, with the lower extremity of notable concern. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the profile of lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries within a state police agency. Methods Injury data were collected by an Australian state police force over a 7-year period (2009–2016) and records not meeting the definition for lower extremity musculoskeletal injury were excluded. Statistical analyses were descriptive, with frequencies, means and standard deviations calculated where applicable. Chi-square analysis was performed to compare injury profiles by gender. Ethics approval was granted by Bond University Human Research Ethics Committee (Research Protocol 15360). Results Of the initial 65,579 incident records, 12,452 (19%) related to lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries. The knee was the most commonly injured site (31.4%) with sprains/strains (42.3%) the most common nature of injury and arresting offenders (24.2%) the most common activity at time of injury. Slips/trips/falls (37.8%) was found to be the most common cause of injury. Variations were found between genders, most notably within the injury activity (p < .001). 27.1% of male officers were injured when arresting offenders compared to 16.5% for female officers. Walking/running contributed to 17.9% of female officer incidents compared to 9.3% for male officers. The mean number of hours worked prior to injury occurrence was 6.00 ± 3.56 h with significantly more injuries occurring in the middle third of the shift (4.34–8.67 h, p < 0.001). Conclusions While the proportion of injuries that affected the lower extremity was lower for police, the leading sites of injuries (knees and ankles) were similar to those of military and fire and rescue populations. Variations between genders suggest there may need to be differences in return-to-work rehabilitation.

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“…As with other tactical occupations where load carriage is a requirement, such as in law enforcement (10 to 22 kg [4,5]) and the military (up to 45+ kg [6,7]), the loads carried by firefighters can increase their risk of physical injuries [8]. These injuries range from neurological injuries (like meralgias and brachial plexus palsy [9,10]) to the more typical musculoskeletal injuries (like sprains, strains, and fractures [11,12]). Furthermore, for the firefighter, carrying these loads can increase their risk of a slip, trip or fall when conducting fire suppression tasks in urban environments [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Various Clothing Variations on Firefighter Mobility: A Pilot Study

Orr

Simas

Canetti

et al. 2019

Safety

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Firefighter clothing is known to restrict movement and increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury. The aim of this study was to investigate differences between clothing variations and firefighter mobility. Data were collected from eight firefighters using a randomized counterbalanced, repeated measures, design. Three different clothing variants (V1-V3) in addition to current station wear (S) were trialed. Combinations of S and V1 (SV1) and V2 (SV2) were also trialed. Outcome measures included: standing reach height; the Functional Movement Screen [FMS]; vertical jump; a visual analogue scale [VAS] for the FMS, vertical jump, step ups and crawl; and a mannequin sketch to mark areas of discomfort. V3 was preferred over S in all tasks and performed better both objectively (FMS and vertical jump) and subjectively (VAS scores). While V1 was typically associated with poorer performance, the impacts of V1 and V2 when compared to each other and S varied depending on the tasks performed. This variation was greater when V1 or V2 were worn with S (SV1 and SV2). Areas of discomfort across all variations was the knees, followed by the thighs. Clothing that has the least impact on, or improves, mobility (especially around the lower limbs) may help reduce firefighter injury and limit subjective discomfort.Safety 2019, 5, 78 2 of 18 while stepping over it. Conversely, in wildland firefighters, a 15 kg pack was found to significantly increase their time to negotiate escape routes during a wilderness fire forced evacuation [14].In addition to the load weights, the nature of the equipment and clothing worn by firefighters is thought to impact both their performance and injury risk. The bulkiness and rigidity of the PPE clothing worn by firefighters, for example, is known to reduce their mobility and has been considered to increase the risk of injury through increasing the potential for a slip, trip or fall [2,3,15]. SCBA and boot sizes (heights), in particular, have been associated with reducing mobility, increasing physical stress, and increasing the risk of slips, trips, and falls (3). As such, it is not surprising that the wearing of SCBA and boots are major contributors to fireground musculoskeletal injuries [3].Given that slips, trips, and falls are a common mechanism for firefighter injuries to occur, and that the PPE worn by firefighters can increase their risk of a slip, trip, or fall, research investigating the impacts of different firefighter PPE clothing variations on their mobility may be of value and provide a means of optimising clothing design and development in order to mitigate these injuries. Furthermore, as not all injuries occur while performing fire suppression tasks, the impacts of different firefighter clothing in general (e.g., daily station wear) on mobility may be of value. However, there is no known research comparing different clothing variations and firefighter mobility specifically. As such, the aim of this research was to compare the impacts on firefighter mobility of three different clothing variati...

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Gender differences in load carriage injuries of Australian army soldiers

Cited by 28 publications

References 28 publications

Fit for fight – self-reported health in military women: a cross-sectional study

Fit for fight – self-reported health in military women: a cross-sectional study

Profiling lower extremity injuries sustained in a state police population: a retrospective cohort study

Impact of Various Clothing Variations on Firefighter Mobility: A Pilot Study

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