TY - JOUR
T1 - BMI and Lower Extremity Injury in U.S. Army Soldiers, 2001-2011
AU - Hruby, Adela
AU - Bulathsinhala, Lakmini
AU - McKinnon, Craig J.
AU - Hill, Owen T.
AU - Montain, Scott J.
AU - Young, Andrew J.
AU - Smith, Tracey J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the millions of U.S. Army Soldiers who, in entering into military service for this country, contributed their data to this analysis. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Army or the Department of Defense. Any citations of commercial organizations and trade names in this report do not constitute an official Department of the Army endorsement of approval of the products or services of these organizations. AH’s contribution to this research was supported by an appointment to the Postgraduate Research Participation Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Environmental Medicine administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command .
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Introduction Little data exist regarding the long-term impact of excess weight on lower extremity musculoskeletal injury/disorder (MID) in U.S. Army Soldiers. This prospective analysis examines the association between BMI of Soldiers at accession and risk of MID. Methods A total of 736,608 Soldiers were followed from accession into the Army, 2001-2011. Data were analyzed January through March 2015. MID was categorized as any first incident lower extremity musculoskeletal injury/disorder, and secondarily, as first incident injury/disorder at a specific site (i.e., hips, upper legs/thighs, knees, lower legs/ankles, feet/toes). Multivariable-adjusted proportional hazards models estimated associations between BMI category at accession and MID risk. Results During 15,678,743 person-months of follow-up, 411,413 cases of any first MID were documented (70,578 hip, 77,050 upper leg, 162,041 knee, 338,080 lower leg, and 100,935 foot injuries in secondary analyses). The overall MID rate was 2.62 per 100 person-months. Relative to Soldiers with normal BMI (18.5 to <25 kg/m2) at accession, those who were underweight (<18.5); overweight (25 to <30); or obese (≥30) had 7%, 11%, and 33% higher risk of MID, respectively, after adjustment. Risks were highest in Soldiers who were obese at accession, and lowest in those with a BMI of 21-23 kg/m2. Conclusions Soldier BMI at accession has important implications for MID. A BMI of 21-23 kg/m2 in newly accessing Soldiers was associated with the lowest risk of incident MID, suggesting that accession be limited to people within this range to reduce overall incidence of MID among service personnel.
AB - Introduction Little data exist regarding the long-term impact of excess weight on lower extremity musculoskeletal injury/disorder (MID) in U.S. Army Soldiers. This prospective analysis examines the association between BMI of Soldiers at accession and risk of MID. Methods A total of 736,608 Soldiers were followed from accession into the Army, 2001-2011. Data were analyzed January through March 2015. MID was categorized as any first incident lower extremity musculoskeletal injury/disorder, and secondarily, as first incident injury/disorder at a specific site (i.e., hips, upper legs/thighs, knees, lower legs/ankles, feet/toes). Multivariable-adjusted proportional hazards models estimated associations between BMI category at accession and MID risk. Results During 15,678,743 person-months of follow-up, 411,413 cases of any first MID were documented (70,578 hip, 77,050 upper leg, 162,041 knee, 338,080 lower leg, and 100,935 foot injuries in secondary analyses). The overall MID rate was 2.62 per 100 person-months. Relative to Soldiers with normal BMI (18.5 to <25 kg/m2) at accession, those who were underweight (<18.5); overweight (25 to <30); or obese (≥30) had 7%, 11%, and 33% higher risk of MID, respectively, after adjustment. Risks were highest in Soldiers who were obese at accession, and lowest in those with a BMI of 21-23 kg/m2. Conclusions Soldier BMI at accession has important implications for MID. A BMI of 21-23 kg/m2 in newly accessing Soldiers was associated with the lowest risk of incident MID, suggesting that accession be limited to people within this range to reduce overall incidence of MID among service personnel.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.10.015
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.10.015
M3 - Article
C2 - 26699247
AN - SCOPUS:84949818823
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 50
SP - e163-e171
JO - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
IS - 6
ER -