METABOLIC FITNESS AS A PREDICTOR OF INJURY RISK IN CONDITIONED MILITARY TRAINEES UNDERTAKING AN ARDUOUS FIELD TRAINING EXERCISE N. Meigh1, M. Steele1, & R.M. Orr1,2 1. Bond University 2. Australian Defence Force – Australian Army Email: rorr@bond.edu.au Background & Purpose BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal injuries reduce the ability of military forces to train new personnel Metabolic fitness has been used to predict injury risk in new Australian Army trainees. The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of using metabolic fitness to determine injury risk in conditioned military trainees completing a period of arduous physical activity   PURPOSE: To improve strategies that reduce injury incidence and attrition in the Australian Defence Force Methods Metabolic fitness (VO2) was determined through the use of retrospective 20m Progressive Shuttle Run Test. The metabolic fitness assessment was completed three days prior to the 10-day arduous field training exercise Injury risk was determined through use of retrospective injury data captured by a field medical officer during the 10-day arduous field training exercise An Independent Samples T-Test was used to determine if the average VO2 was different between: i) males and females and ii) the injured and not- injured groups A Two-Sample Z-Test for 2 proportions was used to determine if there was a significant difference in the proportion of injured to non-injured in: (i) a group comprising of low VO2 scores (-1 Standard Deviation) and (ii) a group comprising of high VO2 scores (+1 Standard Deviation) In total, data from 140 military trainees of the Australian Regular Army (127 male, 13 female) were captured Ethical approval for this study were granted by ADHREC (647-11) and BUHREC (RO-1408) Results The mean VO2 max was higher for males (53.1ml.kg-1.min-1, SD 3.2) than females (46.8ml.kg-1.min-1, SD 4.4) t =-6.6 (p=0.0001) The mean VO2 max for the injured group was 50.1ml.kg-1.min‑1 (SD 4.5), and for the not-injured group 53.0ml.kg-1.min‑1 (SD 3.4) (Figure 1) This was statistically different, t=2.8 (p=0.006) irrespective of gender Participants with a VO2 max below 1SD of the mean were three times more likely to be injured than those above 1SD from the mean (p=0.049) (Figure 2) Figure 2: Injury status of soldiers presenting as one standard deviation below and above the mean VO2 score Figure 1: Mean VO2 scores based on soldier injury status Conclusion The results of this study suggest that a 20m Progressive Shuttle Run Test is a valid predictor of injury risk for well-trained military trainees prior to a period of arduous physical exercise References Burke, W.P., Dyer, F.D. Physical fitness predictors of success and injury in Ranger training. Fort Benning, Georgia; 1984. U.S. Army Research Institute for The Behavioural And Social Sciences. Research Report 1366 Jones, B.H., Cowan, D.N., Pitt Tomlinson, J., Robinson, J.R., Polly, D.W., Frykman, P.N. Epidemiology of injuries associated with physical training among young men in the army. Med Sci Sports Exerc. (1993);(25)2:197-203 Knapik, J.J., Sharp, M.A., Canham-Chervak, M., Hauret, K., Patton, J.F., Jones, B.H. Risk factors for training-related injuries among men and women in basic combat training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. (2001);33(6):946-954 Pope, R., Herbert, R., Kirwan, J.D., Graham, B.J. Predicting attrition in basic military training. Mil Med. (1999);(164)10:710-714 Rosendal, L., Langberg, H., Skov-Jensen, A., Kjær, M. Incidence of injury and physical performance adaptations during military training. Clin J Sports Med. (2003);13:157-163