Examination of a Psychological Profile for Predicting Injury of Active Duty Military Service Members Following Return to Duty After Thoracolumbar Spine or Lower Extremity Injury — MHSRS 2022

Greenlee T, Bullock G, Teyhen D, Rhon D

Abstract submitted to Military Health System Research Symposium 2022.

Prevalence and burden of musculoskeletal injuries for military service members are high, with recurrent injuries contributing to greater costs, more time lost from duty, and sub-optimal force readiness. Several psychological factors are associated with injury and return to work readiness in sport and occupational settings. We explored whether the psychological state of soldiers returning to duty following an injury could predict time-loss injury within the next year. We performed a secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal cohort study of soldiers returning to full duty after a recent thoracolumbar spine (TLS) or lower extremity (LE) injury after seeking medical care. A psychological profile (depression, anxiety, anger, fear, frustration, exercise enjoyment, job-, military-, and life-satisfaction, kinesiophobia, fear avoidance beliefs, pain catastrophizing, stress, and mood) was assessed via self-report at the point of initial return-to-duty and Soldiers were followed for one year.