The role of strength and power during performance of high intensity military tasks under heavy load carriage.

Objective: Previous research has investigated the physiological determinants of heavy load carriage while performing medium to long distance road marching, yet research examining the physiological underpinnings of high-intensity battlefield tasks is limited. This study sought to examine the role of strength and power during high-intensity combat tasks under heavy load carriage.

Methods: Eighteen recreationally trained men (mean±SD: age, 21±2 years; height, 172±6 cm; weight, 80±13 kg) participated in this study and performed an anaerobic combat course under 2 randomized experimental conditions; unloaded and loaded.

Investigation of the Impact of Sports, Exercise, and Recreation Participation on Psychosocial Outcomes in a Population of Veterans with Disabilities: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate possible effects that participation in sports, exercise, and recreation may have on self-esteem and quality-of-life in service members/veterans with disabilities.

Design: Two hundred twenty service members/veterans with disabilities who were participants in one of three annual adaptive sporting events took part in this cross-sectional study. Variables of interest were years of sport, exercise, and recreation participation since the onset of disability as well as the type of activity they engaged in.

Factors related to high-level mobility in male servicemembers with traumatic lower-limb loss.

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible relationship between factors modifiable by rehabilitation interventions (rehabilitation factors), other factors related to lower-limb loss (other factors), and high-level mobility as measured by the Comprehensive High-Level Activity Mobility Predictor (CHAMP) in servicemembers (SMs) with traumatic lower-limb loss. One-hundred eighteen male SMs with either unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA), unilateral transfemoral amputation (TFA), or bilateral lower-limb amputation (BLLA) participated. Stepwise regression analysis was used to develop separate regression models of factors predicting CHAMP score.

Comparison of prosthetic feet prescribed to active individuals using ISO standards.

Background: Little research has been done on the robustness of prosthetic feet prescribed to military personnel, and manufacturers are not required to test their products prior to sale. This is problematic because the prosthetic feet used by active individuals are subjected to loading conditions not seen in normal gait.

Objectives: To evaluate whether commercially available heavy-duty prosthetic feet intended for use by military personnel meet ISO 10328 standards.

Wheeled mobility: factors influencing mobility and assistive technology in veterans and servicemembers with major traumatic limb loss from Vietnam war and OIF/OEF conflicts.

Returning wounded veterans and servicemembers to their highest level of function following traumatic injury is a priority of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. We surveyed 245 veterans from the Vietnam war and 226 servicemembers and veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) conflicts with at least one major traumatic lower-limb loss to determine their use of mobility assistive technology (AT) and patterns of limb abandonment. Prosthetic device use without wheelchair use is found in 50.

Advances in lower-limb prosthetic technology.

The boundaries once faced by individuals with amputations are quickly being overcome through biotechnology. Although there are currently no prosthetics capable of replicating anatomic function, there have been radical advancements in prosthetic technology, medical science, and rehabilitation in the past 30 years, vastly improving functional mobility and quality of life for individuals with lower-limb amputations. What once seemed impossible is rapidly becoming reality.