Comparison of Musculoskeletal Disorders of Imam Ali Officer University (AS) Students with Different Military Training History

The aim of this study was to compare the musculoskeletal disorders of students of Imam Ali Military (AS) University with different military training history.

To conduct this study, 90 students of the officer university in three new entrance groups of first year (number: 30 people, age: 20.06±1.31 years, height: 1.80±0.05 m, weight: 72.40±8.98 Kg, BMI: 22.21±2.43 kg/m2); second year (number: 30 people, age: 21.00±1.59 years, height: 1.78±0.04 m, weight: 73.66±6.68 kg, BMI: 23.24±1.82 kg/m2) and third year (number: 30 people, age: 21.53±1.45 years, height: 1.78±0.06 m, weight: 72.23±9.66 kg, BMI: 22.73±2.55 kg/m2) were selected. In this cross-sectional study, the photography method was used to measure the angle of the forward head and forward shoulders. The angle of kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were also determined by using a flexible ruler. Also, the arch of the foot was determined by the navicular drop method, the amount of genu varum or genu valgum assessed by a caliper, and the amount of hyperextension of knee evaluated by a goniometer. Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine the type of data distribution. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine between-group differences and the Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the two groups. All analyzes were performed by using SPSS software version 26.

The results of the present study showed that there were significant differences between the three groups of the first year, second year, and third year in the variables of forward head, forward shoulder, kyphosis, lordosis, amount of genu recurvatum, and foot arch (P=0.001). The results of the Bonferroni test showed that there was a significant difference in the variables of forward head and forward shoulder between the groups of the first year-third year (P≤0.01) and also between the second year-third year (P=0.001). Also, there was a significant difference in the kyphosis variable between the groups of the first year-third year (P=0.04) and also the second year-third year (P=0.001), which in the lordosis variable the difference was significant between the first year and third year groups (P=0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference in the variables of genu recurvatum and foot arch between the groups of the first year- second year, first year-third year, and second year-third year (P=0.001), but this difference in other variables was not significant between different groups.

The results of the present study showed that the participation of military university students in military and educational training may be associated with increased forward head, forward shoulder, kyphosis, lordosis, genu recurvatum, and flat foot. Accordingly, corrective exercises are recommended for these students to prevent these musculoskeletal disorders.