Musculoskeletal overuse injury prevalence and comfort perception of military boots

Load carriage and physical training causes lower leg biomechanical overuse musculoskeletal injuries (OMSKI). Biomechanical OMSKI is cumulative micro-trauma caused by altered load distribution. The purpose of this study: assess the OMSKI prevalence and comfort perception of military boots in Latvian infantry soldiers. Materials and methods: cross-sectional study among infantry soldiers during annual medical check-up. Injuries were classified according to body regions and injury types (acute or overuse). Military boot comfort was assessed for 6 dimensions: overall comfort, forefoot, arch and heel cushioning, arch and heel support using 10-point Likert scale. Results: 160 soldiers at average age 30.4±7.3 years participated in this research, with mean service time 7.8±4.1 years. 95% of all participants were males (n=152), 5% females. Prevalence of lower extremity OMSKI was 14.4%. Most common sites for OMSKI are lower leg and ankle (39%) and knee (23%). Military boots rate for forefoot cushioning, heel cushioning and for arch support was 6.1 (SD=2.0), arch cushioning rate 6.0 (SD=2.0), heel support rate 6.3 (SD=2.0) and overall comfort rate was 6.4 (SD=1.9). Presence of lower leg overuse injuries are associated with overall military boots comfort [χ2(9) =120.3; p<0.001]. Conclusions: Lower leg overuse injuries are common for infantry soldiers and it is suggested to provide proper fitted military boots according to foot types and lower leg alignments to prevent OMSKI