Predictive gait related risk factors of lower extremity overuse injury among cadets in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps

Abstract

Based on the large incidence of lower extremity overuse injury (LEOI) in the military population and limited studies using three-dimensional motion capture analysis, this study was designed to assess the kinematics and kinetics of gait and to assess risk factors of LEOI associated with military basic training in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets prior to the beginning of a physical training cycle, and to track injuries for one academic semester (approximately four months), in order to prospectively determine predictive factors of LEOIs among this population. The purpose of this study was to develop both retrospective and prospective kinetic and kinematic risk factor models for LEOI, specifically ITBS and AKP in members of a single ROTC unit.