TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters as Predictors of Lower-Limb Overuse Injuries in Military Training
AU - Springer, Shmuel
AU - Gottlieb, Uri
AU - Lozin, Mariya
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Shmuel Springer et al.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The study objective was to determine whether spatiotemporal gait parameters could predict lower-limb overuse injuries in cohort of combat soldiers during first year of military service. Newly recruited infantry soldiers walked on a treadmill at a 15° incline with a fixed speed of 1.67 m/sec while wearing a standard military vest with a 10 kg load. Stride time variability, stride length variability, step length asymmetry, and the duration of the loading response phase of the gait cycle were measured. Injury data on 76 soldiers who did not report musculoskeletal complaints at initial screening were collected one year after recruitment. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive effect of the gait parameters on lower-limb injuries. Twenty-four soldiers (31.6%) had overuse injuries during the first year after recruitment. Duration of the loading response was a significant predictor of general lower-limb injury (p < 0.05), as well as of foot/ankle and knee injuries (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, resp.). A cutoff value of less than 12.15% for loading response duration predicted knee injuries with 83% sensitivity and 67% specificity. This study demonstrates the utility of spatiotemporal gait evaluation, a simple screening tool before military training, which may help to identify individuals at risk of lower-limb overuse injuries.
AB - The study objective was to determine whether spatiotemporal gait parameters could predict lower-limb overuse injuries in cohort of combat soldiers during first year of military service. Newly recruited infantry soldiers walked on a treadmill at a 15° incline with a fixed speed of 1.67 m/sec while wearing a standard military vest with a 10 kg load. Stride time variability, stride length variability, step length asymmetry, and the duration of the loading response phase of the gait cycle were measured. Injury data on 76 soldiers who did not report musculoskeletal complaints at initial screening were collected one year after recruitment. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive effect of the gait parameters on lower-limb injuries. Twenty-four soldiers (31.6%) had overuse injuries during the first year after recruitment. Duration of the loading response was a significant predictor of general lower-limb injury (p < 0.05), as well as of foot/ankle and knee injuries (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, resp.). A cutoff value of less than 12.15% for loading response duration predicted knee injuries with 83% sensitivity and 67% specificity. This study demonstrates the utility of spatiotemporal gait evaluation, a simple screening tool before military training, which may help to identify individuals at risk of lower-limb overuse injuries.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979769178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2016/5939164
DO - 10.1155/2016/5939164
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C2 - 27478864
AN - SCOPUS:84979769178
SN - 2356-6140
VL - 2016
JO - Scientific World Journal
JF - Scientific World Journal
M1 - 5939164
ER -