Load Carriage-Related Injury Mechanisms, Risk Factors, and Prevention

Knapik, Joseph J.; Reynolds, Katy

doi:10.1007/8415_2014_182

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 178 publications

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“…Again, a sex-specific difference was found, in which female soldiers, while suffering similar proportions of lower back injuries, suffered more severe lower back injuries than male soldiers [78]. When an individual walks with a backpack load, forward lean is increased, generating cyclic stresses on the vertebrae, intervertebral discs, muscles, and other spinal structures with each step [21]. Further, heavy loads do not move in synchrony with the trunk and trunk stiffness increases with such heavy loads due to both active co-contraction of the abdominal and paraspinal muscles and paraspinal reflexes.…”

Section: Injuries Associated With Soldier Load Carriagementioning

confidence: 97%

“…As such, soldiers must carry more equipment and stores. While the soldier's load may vary depending on their Corps (e.g., infantry, armoured, and artillery [27]), roles within a given unit (e.g., rifleman, grenadier, and section commander [28]) and tasks (e.g., patrolling on foot or in a vehicle, and sentry duty [27]), the loads carried by US [21,[28][29][30], Australian [27], British [31], Spanish [18], and German [32][33][34] soldiers can weigh from approximately 25 kg to well over 45 kg. Of most concern, research suggests that regardless of advances in weaponry, changes in theatres of war, and changes to technology in general, the loads carried by soldiers into combat are increasing [15,35].…”

Section: The Weight Of the Soldier's Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of injury types, load carriage tasks are associated with causing injuries in soldiers that range from fractures to ligamentous damage and from skin blistering to neurological injuries [15,20,21,30,[72][73][74][75][76]. Injury body site data from both specific load carriage events [69,77] and longitudinal studies [20,74] suggest that the lower limbs are a leading site of injury from load carriage, with the knee, ankle and foot found to be common sites of musculoskeletal injuries [69,77].…”

Section: Injuries Associated With Soldier Load Carriagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The loads carried by the soldier may reduce their physiological capability, mobility, attention to task, marksmanship and grenade throw ability [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Furthermore, load carriage tasks have been associated with soldier injuries and a history of load carriage injuries increases the risk of future load carriage injuries [20,21]. Hence, preventing load carriage injuries and optimising the physical rehabilitation of injured soldiers to reduce future injury risks and enhance physical, cognitive and technical performance is of importance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Soldier Load Carriage, Injuries, Rehabilitation and Physical Conditioning: An International Approach

Orr

Pope

Lopes

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Soldiers are often required to carry heavy loads that can exceed 45 kg. The physiological costs and biomechanical responses to these loads, whilst varying with the contexts in which they are carried, have led to soldier injuries. These injuries can range from musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., joint/ligamentous injuries and stress fractures) to neurological injuries (e.g., paresthesias), and impact on both the soldier and the army in which they serve. Following treatment to facilitate initial recovery from injuries, soldiers must be progressively reconditioned for load carriage. Optimal conditioning and reconditioning practices include load carriage sessions with a frequency of one session every 10–14 days in conjunction with a program of both resistance and aerobic training. Speed of march and grade and type of terrain covered are factors that can be adjusted to manipulate load carriage intensity, limiting the need to adjust load weight alone. Factors external to the load carriage program, such as other military duties, can also impart physical loading and must be considered as part of any load carriage conditioning/reconditioning program.

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Section: Injuries Associated With Soldier Load Carriagementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: The Weight Of the Soldier's Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Injuries Associated With Soldier Load Carriagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Soldier Load Carriage, Injuries, Rehabilitation and Physical Conditioning: An International Approach

Orr

Pope

Lopes

et al. 2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even though it is recommended that soldiers carry 20–40% of their body weight, given the list and quantity of military supplies that must be brought by them (Birrell, Hooper, & Haslam, 2007), they are sometimes required to use a military backpack (hereafter, MB) that is close to 100% of their body weight (Dean, 2004; J. J. Knapik & Reynolds, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usability evaluation for South Korean military backpack based on “context of use”

Lee

Cho

Ahn

et al. 2020

Hum Ftrs & Erg Mfg Svc

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The military backpack used by the infantry imposes the greatest load on the body and, thus, is also the cause of most user complaints. This study (1) establishes a systematic development procedure for a military backpack that reflects user opinion; (2) suggests a usability questionnaire tool that can identify realistic user needs; and (3) proposes usability verification experiments that can quantitatively measure the usability of the military backpacks. The military backpack development procedure was created in accordance with user-centered design principles. The "context of use" of the military backpack was extracted from a literature review and interviews with experts and actual users. In addition, the usability questionnaire tool and usability verification experiments were devised based on the identified context of use. An analysis of the usability questionnaire answered by 100 infantry soldiers confirms that the region of pain felt by users varies on the size of the human body. Thus, it was possible to recognize the necessity of diversifying the specification of the military backpack. The usability verification experiments did not produce statistical results because only four infantry soldiers performed the pilot test, but the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed experiments could be confirmed through this pilot test. The seven proposed experiments are expected to help confirm the usability differences among different military backpacks or body sizes. The military equipment development procedure, usability evaluation tool, and usability verification experiments are expected to improve user satisfaction and military operations when applied to the development of various military supplies.

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