Abstract
Background Self-reported data are often used in research studies among military populations.
Objective The accuracy of self-reported musculoskeletal injury data among elite military personnel was assessed for issues with recall.
Design Cross-sectional study.
Setting Applied research laboratory at a military installation.
Participants A total of 101 subjects participated (age 28.5±5.6 years). Study participants were active duty military personnel, with no conditions that precluded them from full duty.
Primary and secondary outcome measures Self-reported and medical record reviewed injuries that occurred during a 1-year period were matched by anatomic location, injury side (for extremity injuries), and injury year and type. The accuracy of recall was estimated as the per cent of medical record reviewed injuries correctly recalled in the self-report. The effect of injury anatomic location, injury type and severity and time since injury, on recall, was also assessed. Injuries were classified as recent (≤4 years since injury) or old injuries (>4 years since injury). Recall proportions were compared using Fisher's exact tests.
ResultsA total of 374 injuries were extracted from the subjects' medical records. Recall was generally low (12.0%) and was not different between recent and old injuries (P=0.206). Injury location did not affect recall (P=0.418). Recall was higher for traumatic fractures as compared with less severe non-fracture injuries (P values 0.001 to <0.001). Recall for non-fracture injuries was higher for recent as compared with old injuries (P=0.033). This effect of time since injury on recall was not observed for fractures (P=0.522).
Conclusions The results of this study highlight the importance of weighing the advantages and disadvantages of self-reported injury data before their use in research studies in military populations and the need for future research to identify modifiable factors that influence recall.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-14-2017
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017434
Funding Information
This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research #N00014-11-1-0929.
Repository Citation
Lovalekar, Mita; Abt, John P.; Sell, Timothy C.; Lephart, Scott M.; Pletcher, Erin; and Beals, Kim, "Accuracy of Recall of Musculoskeletal Injuries in Elite Military Personnel: A Cross-Sectional Study" (2017). Physical Therapy Faculty Publications. 87.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/rehabsci_facpub/87
Notes/Citation Information
Published in BMJ Open, v. 7, issue 12, p. 1-8.
© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017.
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