Injury Profiles of Police Recruits Undergoing Basic Physical Training: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Purpose A lack of published epidemiological data among police recruits presents a major challenge when designing appropriate prevention programs to reduce injury burden. We aimed to report the injury epidemiology of Western Australian (WA) Police Force recruits and examine sex and age as injury risk factors. Methods Retrospective analyses were conducted of prospectively collected injury data from WA Police Force recruits between 2018–2021. Injury was defined as ‘time-loss’ and injury incidence rate per 1000 training days (Poisson exact 95% confidence intervals) was calculated. For each region and type of injury, the incidence, severity, and burden were calculated. The association between age, sex, and injury occurrence were assessed using Cox regression time-to-event analysis. Results A total of 1316 WA Police Force recruits were included, of whom 264 recruits sustained 304 injuries. Injury prevalence was 20.1% and the incidence rate was 2.00 (95%CI 1.78–2.24) injuries per 1000 training days. Lower limb injuries accounted for most of the injury burden. Ligament/ joint injuries had the highest injury tissue/pathology burden. The most common activity injuring recruits was physical training (31.8% of all injuries). Older age (Hazard Ratio = 1.5, 95%CI = 1.2 to 1.9, p = 0.002) and female sex (Hazard Ratio = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.3 to 1.6, p < 0.001) increased risk of injury. Conclusion Prevention programs targeting muscle/tendon and ligament/joint injuries to the lower limb and shoulder should be prioritised to reduce the WA Police Force injury burden. Injury prevention programs should also prioritise recruits who are over 30 years of age or of female sex, given they are a higher risk population.

Prevalência e medidas preventivas de lesões na formação de militares

“…A respeito dos locais de incidência, observa-se na literatura que a maior projeção de lesão em militares recrutas, ou seja, em formação, ocorre nos membros inferiores (PLATCHEK; TINOCO, 2020;LOPES et al, 2021;HEARN et al, 2021;HUA et al, 2018;KEIJSERS et al, 2022;KUCERA et al, 2016a;LOPES et al, 2017;MAUPIN et al, 2022;MERRICK et al, 2022;QUADROS, 2019;LOIOLA, 2019;ARAUJO et al, 2017;BELFORT, 2018;DOS REIS e SILVA, 2018;CEZAR, 2022;WEIBER, 2023).…”

“…Em órgãos policiais, a dinâmica não é diferente. A falta de dados epidemiológicos publicados entre os recrutas da polícia, por exemplo, representa um grande desafio ao projetar programas de prevenção apropriados para reduzir a carga de lesões (MERRICK et al, 2022).…”

“…Nesta ceara aponta Lovalekar et al (2021), que os líderes (comandantes) devem estar cientes das inter-relações de aptidão física, desempenho de tarefas militares e risco de lesões musculoesqueléticas. Também expõe Merrick et al (2022), que os programas de prevenção direcionados a lesões musculares/tendíneas e ligamentares/articulares nos membros inferiores e ombros devem ser priorizados, como objetivos institucionais contra as lesões.…”