CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — U. S. armed forces have high rates of ankle and foot injuries and mean medical and personnel costs for the DoD.
A new study in BMC Military Health evaluated the burden and risk factors of plantar fasciopathy (PF) in the U.S. military.1
Researchers from the University of Virginia and the Uniformed Services of the Health Sciences in Bethesda used the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify all diagnosed PF cases in military servicemembers from 2006 to 2015. A custom spreadsheet calculated incidence of PF and relative risk between sexes, military occupations and ranks, while the study also calculated the relative risk of injury per demographic category (sex, age, service branch, rank and year).
The researchers determined that the overall incidence of PF from 2006 to 2015 was 12.85 per 1,000 person-years, affecting 176,601 servicemembers. Specifically, the authors reported that 37,939 officers incurred PF at a rate of 17.65 per 1,000 person-years (male 18.20 per 1,000 person-years; female 14.80 per 1,000 person-years).
In addition, there were 116,122 enlisted personnel with PF that occurred at a rate of 12.22 per 1,000 person-years (male 12.07 per 1,000 person-years; female 13.22 per 1,000 person-years).
“When compared with ground and naval gunfire officers, all officer specialties except for aviation and logistics had significantly higher risk of PF; aviation (relative risk (RR): 0.83, p<0.001) and logistics (RR: 0.94, p<0.001) had significantly lower risk,” the authors advised. “Regarding enlisted specialties, when compared with infantry, all occupations had significantly increased risk for PF except for Special Operations Forces (RR: 0.94, p=0.13). There were multiple associated factors identified with PF, including female sex, age >30, junior enlisted rank, a variety of military occupations and service in the Army.”
The study concluded that PF was common in the U.S. military during the study period, with multiple salient risk factors identified. “These findings highlight the need for prophylactic interventions for populations with the greatest risk,” the researchers added.
- Xu J, Saliba S, Fraser J. Burden and risk factors for plantar fasciopathy in the military population from 2006 to 2015: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Mil Health. 2025 Feb 4:military-2024-002869. doi: 10.1136/military-2024-002869. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39904534.
