Studying the Relation Between Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome and Anatomic and Anthropometric Characteristics of Military Male Personnel

BACKGROUND: Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) is common among military recruits and to our knowledge; the factors that might put the military recruits at higher risk of incidence of MTSS are not well known. OBJECTIVES: This study was done to investigate the association between some anthropometric and anatomical factors and the prevalence of MTSS among military recruits. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and eighty one randomly selected military recruits were included in this cross sectional study. Using history taking and physical examinations they were tested for MTSS. Accordingly the subjects were assigned to the case (those with MTSS) and control groups (normal healthy subjects). Using standard guidelines, the anthropometric and anatomical criteria of the subjects were measured. The correlation between the measurements and the prevalence of MTSS was tested using statistical analysis. RESULTS: Data of all the 181 subjects with the mean age of 30.7 ± 4.68 years were Included in the final analysis. The prevalence of MTSS was found to be 16.6% (30 people). Internal and external rotation range of motion, iliospinale height, the score of navicular drop test, and the trochanteric tibial lateral length were significantly different between healthy subjects and patients with MTSS (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: The prevalence of MTSS was relatively lower in this study comparing to other studies on military personnel. It was not probably due to type of military shoes or exercise area surface (none of them were standardized); it could be due to low intensity trainings and the long intervals between training sessions.