Injuries presenting to Army physiotherapy in north Queensland, Australia

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology of military injuries
• Physiotherapy treatment patterns
• Sports and training-related injuries

Background:

• Understanding injury epidemiology in military populations is crucial for effective prevention strategies.
• Physiotherapy records offer insights into the types and causes of injuries sustained by military personnel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze archival physiotherapy records to investigate the epidemiology of sports and training-related injuries in a military population.
• To identify potential risk factors for military training injuries.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study analyzing 62 months of physiotherapy records (1987-1992) at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville, Australia.
• Data included sociodemographic information, treatment details, and injury causes, classified using the Orchard Sports Injury Classification System.
• A population of approximately 5,000 uniformed staff was studied.

Main Results:

• Over 5,000 physiotherapy treatments were administered to nearly 5,000 personnel, with an injury incidence rate of 19.3% per year.
• The most common causes of injury were military training (29.3%), diverse causes (21.2%), sports (13.8%), and football (11.7%).
• The knee joint (37.0%) and lumbar spine (29.8%) were the most frequently treated body areas. Significant associations were found between gender, injury cause, type, body area, and season.

Conclusions:

• Physiotherapy admission data likely underestimate the true injury incidence in military personnel.
• The majority of injuries referred for physiotherapy lacked a definitive diagnosis, highlighting a need for improved diagnostic and recording systems.
• Injury prevention should focus on military training, football, and other sports, with enhanced data recording systems essential for future analysis.