Methodology used to develop the minimum common data elements for surveillance and Reporting of Musculoskeletal Injuries in the MILitary (ROMMIL) statement.

Background: The objective was to summarize the methodology used to reach consensus for recommended minimum data elements that should be collected and reported when conducting injury surveillance research in military settings. This paper summarizes the methodology used to develop the international Minimum Data Elements for surveillance and Reporting of Musculoskeletal Injuries in the MILitary (ROMMIL) statement.

Methods: A Delphi methodology was employed to reach consensus for minimum reporting elements.

Lessons From Special Forces Operators for Elite Team Sports Training: How to Make the Whole Greater Than the Sum of the Parts.

This methodology paper describes the design of a holistic and multidisciplinary human performance program within the Belgian Special Forces Group, the Tier 1 Special Operations unit of the Belgian Defense. Performance management approaches in the military draw heavily on sports science. The key component of the program design described here is its integrative nature, which team sports training might benefit from.

Measuring Spatiotemporal Parameters on Treadmill Walking Using Wearable Inertial System.

This study aims to measure and compare spatiotemporal gait parameters in nineteen subjects using a full wearable inertial mocap system Xsens (MVN Awinda, Netherlands) and a photoelectronic system one-meter OptoGait (Microgait, Italy) on a treadmill imposing a walking speed of 5 km/h. A total of eleven steps were considered for each subject constituting a dataset of 209 samples from which spatiotemporal parameters (SPT) were calculated. The step length measurement was determined using two methods.

Energy Balance and Energy Availability During a Selection Course for Belgian Paratroopers.

Introduction: Adequate energy supply is a prerequisite for optimal performances and recovery. The aims of the present study were to estimate energy balance and energy availability during a selection course for Belgian paratroopers.

Methods: Energy expenditure by physical activity was measured with accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X+, ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA) and rest metabolic rate in Cal.

Study protocol: a single-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial comparing dynamic intraligamentary stabilization, internal brace ligament augmentation and reconstruction in individuals with an acute anterior cruciate ligament rupture: LIBRƎ study.

Background: The current gold standard for the treatment of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is reconstruction with tendon graft. Recently, two surgical ACL repair techniques have been developed for treating an acute ACL rupture: Dynamic Intraligamentary Stabilization (DIS, Ligamys®) and Internal Brace Ligament Augmentation (IBLA, InternalBrace™). We will conduct a single-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial which compares DIS, IBLA and reconstruction for relative clinical efficacy and economic benefit.

Cervical Joint Position Sense in Hypobaric Conditions: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: Well-adapted motor actions require intact and well-integrated information from all of the sensory systems, specifically the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems, including proprioception. Proprioception is involved in the sensorimotor control by providing the central nervous system with an updated body schema of the biomechanical and spatial properties of the body parts. With regard to the cervical spine, proprioceptive information from joint and muscle mechanoreceptors is integrated with vestibular and visual feedback to control head position, head orientation, and whole body posture.

Decreased Average Power of the Hip External Muscles as a Predictive Parameter for Lower Extremity Injury in Women: A Prospective Study.

Objective: To prospectively identify hip strength associated risk factors contributing to the development of lower extremity (LE) injury.

Design: Data were prospectively collected on healthy female physical education students.

Setting: This study was conducted in the institution of the University of Ghent.

Prone Hip Extension Muscle Recruitment is Associated with Hamstring Injury Risk in Amateur Soccer.

'Core stability' is considered essential in rehabilitation and prevention. Particularly with respect to hamstring injury prevention, assessment and training of lumbo-pelvic control is thought to be key. However, supporting scientific evidence is lacking.

Deviating running kinematics and hamstring injury susceptibility in male soccer players: Cause or consequence?

Background: Although the vast majority of hamstring injuries in male soccer are sustained during high speed running, the association between sprinting kinematics and hamstring injury vulnerability has never been investigated prospectively in a cohort at risk.

Purpose: This study aimed to objectify the importance of lower limb and trunk kinematics during full sprint in hamstring injury susceptibility.

Study Design: Cohort study; level of evidence, 2.

Proximal Neuromuscular Control Protects Against Hamstring Injuries in Male Soccer Players: A Prospective Study With Electromyography Time-Series Analysis During Maximal Sprinting.

Background: With their unremittingly high incidence rate and detrimental functional repercussions, hamstring injuries remain a substantial problem in male soccer. Proximal neuromuscular control ("core stability") is considered to be of key importance in primary and secondary hamstring injury prevention, although scientific evidence and insights on the exact nature of the core-hamstring association are nonexistent at present.

Hypothesis: The muscle activation pattern throughout the running cycle would not differ between participants based on injury occurrence during follow-up.

Susceptibility to Hamstring Injuries in Soccer: A Prospective Study Using Muscle Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Running-related hamstring strain injuries remain a delicate issue in several sports such as soccer. Their unremittingly high incidence and recurrence rates indicate that the underlying risk has not yet been fully identified. Among other factors, the importance of neuromuscular coordination and the quality of interplay between the different hamstring muscle bellies is thought to be a key determinant within the intrinsic injury risk.

Biceps femoris and semitendinosus--teammates or competitors? New insights into hamstring injury mechanisms in male football players: a muscle functional MRI study.

Background: The hamstring injury mechanism was assessed by investigating the exercise-related metabolic activity characteristics of the hamstring muscles using a muscle functional MRI (mfMRI) protocol.

Methods: 27 healthy male football players and 27 football players with a history of hamstring injuries (recovered and playing fully) underwent standardised mfMR Imaging. The mfMRI protocol consisted of a resting scan, a strenuous bilateral eccentric hamstring exercise and a postexercise scan.

A surface electromyography based objective method to identify patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain, presenting a flexion related movement control impairment.

Movement control impairments (MCI) are often present in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NS-CLBP). Therefore, movement control exercises are widely used to rehabilitate patients. However, the objective assessment remains difficult.

Performance based on sEMG activity is related to psychosocial components: differences between back and abdominal endurance tests.

The influence of psychosocial components on back and abdominal endurance tests in patients with persistent non-specific low back pain should be investigated to ensure the correct interpretation of these measures. Three-hundred and thirty-two patients (291 men and 41 women) from 19 to 63years performed an abdominal and back muscle endurance test after completing some psychosocial questionnaires. During the endurance tests, surface electromyography signals of the internal obliques, the external obliques, the lumbar multifidus and the iliocostalis were recorded.

Muscle functional MRI to evaluate quadriceps dysfunction in patellofemoral pain.

Purpose: A dysfunction of the quadriceps muscle group has often been suggested to play an important role in the pathophysiology of patellofemoral pain (PFP). However, consensus is lacking regarding the quadriceps recruitment pattern of patients with PFP. The aim of this study was to examine by muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging if patients with PFP actually exhibit an altered activation of the muscles that play a significant role in the dynamic balance of the patella.

Velocity of isokinetic trunk exercises influences back muscle recruitment patterns in healthy subjects.

Isokinetic exercises at different angular velocities on Cybex devices are often used for assessment and therapy in chronic low back pain patients. Little is known about the effect of velocity of movement on the muscle activity during these exercises. The purpose of this study was to investigate both relative muscle activity and ratios of local to global muscle activity at the different velocities of isokinetic movements on a Cybex dynamometer.

Is hip muscle weakness a predisposing factor for patellofemoral pain in female novice runners? A prospective study.

Background: Hip muscle weakness has been proposed to contribute to patellofemoral malalignment and the development of the patellofemoral dysfunction syndrome (PFDS). However, from the retrospective studies that have addressed this issue, it is still unclear if hip muscle weakness is a cause or a consequence of PFDS.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to investigate if hip muscle weakness is a predisposing factor for the development of PFDS.

MRI study of the morphometry of the cervical musculature in F-16 pilots.

Introduction: In fighter pilots neck muscle strengthening exercises are often recommended to protect the neck against pathologies. The aim of the current study was to compare the relative cross-sectional area (rCSA) and muscle:fat ratio of the cervical musculature of F-16 pilots experiencing neck pain and no neck pain (control) pilots. In addition, correlations between these morphometric characteristics, cervical range of motion (CROM), and neck muscle strength were evaluated.

Functional assessment of the cervical spine in F-16 pilots with and without neck pain.

Introduction: Spinal symptoms in fighter pilots are a serious aeromedical problem. The most common neck complaints are muscular pain and strain. The aim of the current study was to determine possible differences in the cervical range of motion (CROM), neck position sense, and neck muscle strength between pilots with and without neck pain.

Sock systems to prevent foot blisters and the impact on overuse injuries of the knee joint.

The incidence of foot blisters and other overuse injuries of the lower limb is very high during basic military training (BMT). One hundred and eighty-nine subjects were divided into two intervention groups wearing alternative sock systems and one control group. Overall, 57% of the 173 recruits who completed the training, developed foot blisters.

Delayed vastus medialis obliquus to vastus lateralis onset timing contributes to the development of patellofemoral pain in previously healthy men: a prospective study.

Background: Delayed onset of vastus medialis obliquus activity has been described in patellofemoral pain patients. No prospective study investigating the development of patellofemoral pain has tested the onset timing of electromyographic activity of the vastus medialis obliquus and vastus lateralis muscles during a functional task.

Hypothesis: Before the development of patellofemoral pain, subjects demonstrate an altered firing order of the vastus medialis obliquus and vastus lateralis muscles compared with healthy subjects during a functional task.

Individual, work-, and flight-related issues in F-16 pilots reporting neck pain.

Introduction: Neck pain is a common problem in F-16 pilots. A cross-sectional survey was used to determine the self-reported 1-yr prevalence of neck pain and to compare individual, work-related, and flight-related characteristics in F-16 pilots with and without neck pain.

Method: There were 90 male F-16 pilots of the Belgian Air Force and The Royal Netherlands Air Force who voluntarily completed an anonymous survey.

Prevalence and risk factors of neck pain in military office workers.

An extensive cross-sectional questionnaire was used to estimate the prevalence of neck pain and to identify risk factors (short term to long term) in the occurrence of neck pain in military office workers. Two standardized scales (Neck Disability Index and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia) allowed assessment of the impact of neck pain on the person's life and the pain-related fear avoidance. A total of 629 completed questionnaires were evaluated which revealed the following: lifetime prevalence (78%), week prevalence (53%), point prevalence (59%), year prevalence (65%) (once-only, 19%; regular, 51%; long term, 15%; never, 7%).

The effects of a neoprene knee sleeve on subjects with a poor versus good joint position sense subjected to an isokinetic fatigue protocol.

Objectives: It has been shown that muscle fatigue has a negative influence on proprioception. Several studies already have demonstrated improvement of proprioception by using knee sleeves.

Hypothesis: Neoprene knee sleeves have different effects on the joint position sense in locally fatigued subjects with good or poor proprioceptive acuity.

A prospective study on gait-related intrinsic risk factors for patellofemoral pain.

Objective: To prospectively determine gait-related risk factors for patellofemoral pain.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Setting: Male and female recruits of the Belgian Royal Military Academy during a 6-week basic military training period.