Injuries during Marine Corps officer basic training

Abstract

On average, about 25% of male and 50% of female enlisted recruits sustain one or more injuries during basic training. Because data on military officer populations are sparse, this study investigated injury incidence, injury rates, and modified duty days that occurred during Marine Corps officer basic training (6 weeks in length). Subjects were 480 officer candidates (including 30 females) undergoing training at Quantico, Virginia. The cumulative injury incidence (one or more injuries) was 60.8%, and the injury rate was 3.9 per 1,000 candidate hours of training. There were 378 primary injury encounters (first visit for a specific injury). The highest injury rates occurred during weeks 2, 3, and 6. Male injury categories with the highest rates (injuries per 100 trainees per 1,000 training hours) were blisters (0.68), sprains (0.58), and bone stress reactions (0.40). The highest injury rates in females were for bone stress reactions (1.35). On average, a total of 3.1% of training days constituted modified duty for each candidate. This study provides basic descriptive injury data for this unique military population that can assist in future planning for injury management and preventive interventional strategies.