Musculoskeletal Injury in Australian Infantry Personnel: A Cross-sectional Study to Understand Prevention Priorities

Musculoskeletal injury patterns are under-investigated in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. Subsequently, more evidence is needed to support injury prevention processes in this population. One difficulty in collecting injury information to monitor injury patterns within combat populations accurately is known injury concealment behaviors in such populations. This study aims to examine musculoskeletal injury epidemiology within Australian infantry battalions using a tailored approach to mitigate reporting avoidance.

A cross-sectional study using an anonymous online survey captured musculoskeletal injury information directly from personnel serving within 2 Australian infantry battalions. The survey requested information on participants' injury frequency in the previous 12 months and the context of participants' most severe injury. Injury context was restricted to the most severe during the period to limit recall bias. The applied injury case definition encompassed all injuries that affected an individual's ability to perform in their role. A descriptive analysis of all data recorded across the 2 battalions was conducted. Subgroup statistical difference was assessed by examining the 95% CI overlap between groups. The Department of Defence and Veterans' Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee granted ethical approval for this study.

Overall, 166 individuals self-reported at least 1 injury in the past 12 months, representing a period prevalence of 55.5% (95% CI, 49.8-61.0%). No statistically significant prevalence differences existed between employment type, age, or sex. Approximately a quarter of injured participants were medically reclassified because of their injury, impacting their deployment fitness (n = 40, 24.4%). The following results relate to the most severe injury personnel experienced. Most injuries were service-related (n = 152, 91.6%). Field activities (n = 64, 39.3%) and physical training (n = 59, 36.2%) were the most common injury-related activities. Running was the most reported injury mechanism (n = 35, 21.7%), followed by pack marching (n = 29, 18.9%) and fall, slip, or trip (n = 18, 11.2%).

Musculoskeletal injuries are common in the Australian infantry and significantly burden the workforce. Physical training and field exercises are most associated with injury and represent opportunities for injury risk-mitigation strategies to support the overall deployability of personnel and the combat effectiveness of their battalions. Future research should more formally explore the injury risk factors related to these activities using more robust study designs to collect injury and exposure information more accurately and reliably. One study strength includes using military-specific international injury surveillance guidelines to inform the survey design, to collect the recommended injury information for effective surveillance, and to enable future research comparison. A second study strength was tailoring the survey to promote participatory engagement, providing a high completion rate. A challenge in conducting this research was coordinating participant recruitment and data collection during domestic operations. Such challenges reflect the reality of conducting research in the military.