Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unit of Physiotherapy, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Physiotherapy, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2020 May 14;21(1):303. doi: 10.1186/s12891-020-03251-z.
The high numbers of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among soldiers in the Swedish Armed Forces has led to the implementation of an effective prevention program, the musculoskeletal screening protocol (MSP), including questionnaires, physical tests and individual intervention of their MSD. A corresponding MSP for the Swedish Air Force is also needed due to earlier reported high prevalence of MSD. We therefore investigated the prevalence of MSD in Swedish Air Force personnel (AF) and compared this to Swedish Army deployed soldiers (DS). Individual, health- and work-related factors associated with MSD were also investigated.
Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study on 166 male AF and 185 DS. AF consisted of fighter pilots, helicopter pilots and rear crew from one Swedish air base.
The one-year and point prevalence, respectively, of MSD were significantly higher for AF compared to DS with regard to both the upper quarter of the body (i.e. neck, shoulder and thoracic regions) (AF = 54.8 and 31.3%, DS = 26.1 and 13.6%, p = 0.01) and the lumbar region (AF = 38.0 and 18.7%, DS = 22.2 and 7.1%, p = 0.00). No significant differences were present between fighter pilots, helicopter pilots and rear crew regarding MSD prevalence. Factors significantly associated with having both upper quarter and lumbar regions MSD were group (i.e. greater odds for AF than DS) and self-reported physical health as less than excellent. Additionally, being older and taller were also factors associated with lumbar region MSD.
Despite a generally healthy lifestyle, MSD were commonly reported by AF and DS, with generally higher prevalence in AF who mainly reported MSD in the upper quarter of the body. The results from this study indicate that the MSP can be a meaningful tool to prevent MSD in air force personnel and that questions regarding general health and MSD in specific body regions should be included in screening protocols. The development of the preventive program MSP is therefore recommended for the Swedish Air Force.
瑞典武装部队中大量的肌肉骨骼疾病（MSD）导致实施了一项有效的预防计划，即肌肉骨骼筛查方案（MSP），包括问卷、身体测试和对 MSD 的个人干预。由于先前报道的 MSD 患病率较高，瑞典空军也需要相应的 MSP。因此，我们调查了瑞典空军人员（AF）中 MSD 的患病率，并将其与瑞典陆军部署的士兵（DS）进行了比较。还调查了与 MSD 相关的个人、健康和工作相关因素。
对 166 名男性 AF 和 185 名 DS 进行了基于问卷调查的横断面研究。AF 由一名瑞典空军基地的战斗机飞行员、直升机飞行员和后机组人员组成。
在过去一年和当前 MSD 的患病率方面，AF 分别明显高于 DS，特别是在身体的上半部分（即颈部、肩部和胸部区域）（AF = 54.8%和 31.3%，DS = 26.1%和 13.6%，p = 0.01）和腰部（AF = 38.0%和 18.7%，DS = 22.2%和 7.1%，p = 0.00）。战斗机飞行员、直升机飞行员和后机组人员之间在 MSD 患病率方面没有显着差异。与上半身和腰部 MSD 均相关的因素是组别（即空军的可能性大于陆军）和自我报告的身体健康状况不佳。此外，年龄较大和身高较高也是腰部 MSD 的相关因素。
尽管生活方式普遍健康，但 AF 和 DS 仍经常报告 MSD，AF 的患病率普遍较高，主要报告上半身的 MSD。这项研究的结果表明，MSP 可以成为预防空军人员 MSD 的有意义的工具，并且应该在筛查方案中包含有关一般健康和特定身体区域 MSD 的问题。因此，建议为瑞典空军制定预防性计划 MSP。
