Epidemiological survey of injuries in military training

Objective: To investigate the character and regularity of injuries in military training and to analyze the causes, raise the reasonable and easy doing preventive measures. Methods: In June 2001, some PLA servicemen in the Army, Navy and Air Force were surveyed by means of the epidemiological sampling. Results: The total rate of training injuries was 29.72%. Among all the injuries, the rate of bone joint injury was 41.26%, soft tissue injury was 16.78%, lower waist injury was 21.65% , inflammation was 20.31%, combining incidence was 12.69% . The incidence rate in the Army was significantly higher than that of the Navy and Air Force ( P 0.01). The 5 000 meter running and 400 meter obstacle race were the main cause of these injuries; the peak incidence of injuries was within the first 90 days in the recruiting training; the training ground, training means and the psychological and physical condition of servicemen were closely associated with the injuries. Different injuries were associated with the different training subjects, different time of training and the years of their services. Conclusion: There is no obvious difference in the total rate of training injuries between the PLA forces in these units and those in land troops. Strengthening the maintenance of training ground and equipment, scientific and reasonable training arrangement, individualized training and the education of injuries for military surgeons and officers can decrease the incidence efficiently.