Equipment modification is associated with fewer stress fractures in female Israel border police recruits.

Purpose: The study was planned to assess whether combat equipment weight reduction would lead to a reduction in the incidence of stress fractures in female border police infantry recruits taking a 4-month course of basic combat training.

Method: 213 female border police recruits, 18-19 years of age, undergoing 16 weeks of basic combat training with lighter rifle and lighter closely fitted combat vest, (total 9.4 kg) were followed prospectively for stress fracture (SFx) incidence, compared to a historical control group of 1,210 recruits who trained with traditional equipment (12.5 kg).

Results: Equipment modification was associated with a significant reduction in SFx from 18.3% in the control group to 8.0% in the intervention group (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: This study implies that equipment weight reduction may achieve a significant effect in SFx reduction, Approximating fighting gear to body center of gravity may enhance this effect.