The rate of the musculoskeletal pathology assessment for military personnel and civil population

¹ Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia
² General practice Doctorate of Riga region, Riga, Latvia

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are an important cause of morbidity for civil population as well as for military personnel. Musculoskeletal disorders represent a prevalent source of patient visits, lost work time, hospitalization and disability. The three most important pain areas are those of lumbar spine, shoulders and lower extremities. We provide assessment of Anthropometric characteristics in two groups. Anthropometric characteristics of military personnel (n = 60) that leave the active service and civil population of the same age (n = 100) were collected during two year period (2011/2012). The anthropometric characteristics were evaluated for military personnel going for retirement with diagnosis of musculoskeletal pathology. The evaluated anthropometric characteristics were the height, the body mass and the anthropometric indices. Body fat ranges for standard adults were calculated according to NIH/WHO BMI guidelines. 30% of military persons with diagnosis of musculoskeletal pathology and individuals from civil population group with diagnosis of the musculoskeletal pathology have values of body mass index above the standard level One of the reasons the musculoskeletal pathology is the overweight it may be important to provide preventive measures to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders linked to specific job and treatment at early stage.