The Effect of a Corrective Exercise Course on the Musculoskeletal Disorders of a Military Unit Soldiers

Musculoskeletal disorders cause abnormalities and major problems, the most important of which is the inability to perform physical activities and military missions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a course of corrective training on the musculoskeletal disorders of soldiers in a military unit.

The Nordic Questionnaire was distributed among 186 soldiers that randomly selected from the military barracks in Tehran, Iran in 2016. Fifty-six soldiers with at least one musculoskeletal disorder were randomly assigned into two groups of 28 people. The intervention group underwent corrective exercises for eight weeks, and the control group did not perform any specific exercises or activities during this period. The QEC test was used to assess the risk of musculoskeletal disorders.

The results of the Nordic questionnaire reported musculoskeletal disorders 51.78% in the lower back, 46.42% in the knees and ankles, 33.92% in the neck, 21.42% in the back, 14.28% in the thighs and buttocks, 12.50% in the shoulders and 10.71 % in hands and wrists. Risk factors for the tasks include 35.71 % very high, 46.42 % high, 12.50 % moderate and 5.35 % low. Finally, it was observed that corrective exercises had a significant effect on musculoskeletal disorders of the intervention group in the neck area (p=0.051 and 2.271), the lumbar region (p=0.05 and z=3.256), and the shoulder muscle (p<0.05, z=3.045) and the wrist/hand area (p=0.05 and z=3.276). But no change was observed in the control group.

Corrective exercises and physical fitness training reduce musculoskeletal disorders and incorporate corrective exercises into the morning exercise program.