Gait Retraining and Telehealth for Mitigation of Risk Factors for Running-related Injury in Military Personnel — ACSM 2023

Eliason A, Weart A, Miller E, Reilly N, Haltiwanger H, Gonnella M, Crowell M, Goss D

Abstract submitted to American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting & World Congresses 2023

Despite the inherently dangerous nature of combat, the most prevalent cause of injury observed in military servicemembers (MSMs) stems from running, possibly due to the large cumulative mechanical stresses incurred. Running-related injuries in the military have primarily been addressed by in-person rehabilitation, but limitations exist inequipment and clinician availability. Recently, telehealth has emerged as a method to reach and provide rehabilitative care to a greater number of patients as well as populations without ready access to laboratory-grade assessment tools. However, applications of telehealth for targeting biomechanical parameters associated with running-related injury in the armed services to improve clinical outcomes have not been explored. The purpose is to evaluate the viability of telehealth gait retraining as a modality to identify and modify gait-related kinetic parameters conducive to running-related injury risk in MSMs.