[Catamnesis of patients with backache from an infantry boot camp]

A follow-up is reported in 58 former infantry recruits whose locomotor system was examined during recruit training in 1964. 35 recruits completed the training period in spite of marked pathological lesions of the spine, and 23 were prematurely discharged from recruit training due to back complaints. Reexamination of these men 7 and 15 years later showed that recruits discharged because of persistent back complaints did not show pathological findings in the spine not also observable in men who remained fit for service for 15 years. One exception was a recruit discharged for herniated lumbar disc. The pathological findings were spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, Scheuermann's disease, straight back and hyperkyphosis, and hyperlordosis. Half of those who remained fit for service, and three quarters of those discharged prematurely, complained of back pain in activities straining the spine. However, only one sixth of those fit for service and a quarter of those discharged prematurely saw a doctor for treatment of these symptoms. The results of these reexaminations may encourage army doctors to declare men fit for service in spite of a pathological back diagnosis, if they show a positive attitude to military service and if the history suggests functional load capacity of the spinal column.