Prevention of Injury in Military Settings Through the Use of Body Awareness.

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Traumatic Injury
• Interventions: Other: ROAF; Other: Active Comparator

• Registration Number: NCT05451394
• Lead Sponsor: Direction Centrale du Service de Santé des Armées

Brief Summary

The POSITION project aims to investigate the cognitive mechanism of postural body awareness as a risk factor for injury and as a target for a primary prevention strategy based on the Resource Optimization of Armed Forces (ROAF) method.

Detailed Description

Physical activity and sport play an important role in the military environment to develop and optimize the operational capability of warfighters. Nevertheless, the prevalence of injuries is high and the identification of risk factors accessible to primary prevention measures is a major challenge for the protection of warfighter health. Military epidemiologic data show that the majority of injuries are acute fall-type injuries following a loss of balance. These data suggest that the quality of postural balance may influence the occurrence of injuries encountered during military physical activities. The high level of stress to which individuals are exposed during military physical activities could contribute to the degradation of postural balance quality. The POSITION project aims to study the cognitive mechanism of postural body awareness as a risk factor for injury and as a target for a primary prevention strategy based on the Resource Optimization of Armed Forces (ROAF) method. ROAF could improve postural control and decrease the intensity of the psychobiological stress response, and thus reduce the incidence rate of fall injuries occurring during military physical activities.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-10-14
• Study Start: 2021-10-17
• Status Verified: 2022-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-07-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-07-05
• Study First Posted: 2022-07-11
• Last Update Posted: 2022-07-11
• Primary Completion: 2023-07
• Study Completion: 2023-07

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 400

Inclusion Criteria

• Signing an informed consent to participate in the study
• enrolled in the selection camp
• Be affiliated to a Social Security system

Exclusion Criteria

• advanced ROAF formation (over 10 hours)

• Refusal to participate

• Person covered by articles L1121-5 to L1121-8 of the public health code, namely

  • Pregnant women, women in labour or nursing mothers,
  • person deprived of liberty by judicial or administrative decision,
  • persons subject to psychiatric monitoring under Articles L3112-1 and L3113-1 who are not covered by the provisions of Article L1121-8,
  • adult persons who are subject to a legal protection measure or who are unable to express their consent.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SEQUENTIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
ROAF Arm	ROAF	6 one-hour workshops working on enhancing postural awareness through the use of ROAF
Active control	Active Comparator	6 one-hour workshops on higher cognitive processes (memory, attention...)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Incidence rate of imbalance injuries in each of the two groups (ROAF vs active control).	3 weeks	The primary endpoint will be the incidence rate of imbalance injuries in each of the two groups (ROAF vs active control).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Evolution of the stress level measured by the perceived stress scale	3 weeks	Evolution of the self-questionnaire measuring perceived stress completed at inclusion, at the final visit, and at the beginning of each workshop; 8 times in total.
Evolution of postural balance	3 weeks	Difference between postural balance assessed during the inclusion visit and the final visit, using a posturography tool.
Evolution of postural awareness measured by the postural awareness scale.	3 weeks	Evolution of the self-questionnaire measuring postural awareness completed at inclusion, at the final visit and at the beginning of each workshop; 8 times in total.
Evolution of the hormonal stress level.	3 weeks	Difference of levels of hormonal stress in a saliva sample (at the inclusion and final visit).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

French Army; 🇫🇷 Paris, France