PICOS of included studies
| Study | Participants (baseline characteristics) | Training (duration) | Intervention | Control | Outcome (follow-up duration) | Study design |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brushøj et al.17 | Denmark army recruits (intervention: 507 [male], control: 513 [male], age: 19−26 yr) | Basic military training (12 wk) | Strengthening and stretching (lower body) | Strengthening and stretching (upper body) | Any musculoskeletal injuries (12 wk) | Quasi-RCT |
| Burley et al.18 | Australia army recruits (intervention: 117 [male, 87; female, 30], control: 97 [male, 75; female, 22], age: 21.7 yr) | Basic military training (12 wk) | Strengthening, stretching and aerobic | Standard running and circuit training | Any musculoskeletal injuries (12 wk) | RCT |
| Carow et al.19 | U.S. military new cadets (total: 1,313 [male, 1,070; female, 243], intervention: 654, control: 659, age: 18−22 yr) | Cadet basic training (6 wk) | Strengthening and stretching | Active warm-up | Lower-limb musculoskeletal injuries (10.5mths) | Cluster RCT |
| Childs et al.20 | U.S. army soldiers (intervention: 2,153, control: 2,160, age: 18−35 yr) | Combat medic training (16 wk) | Strengthening and balance | Upper body strengthening | Any musculoskeletal injuries (16 wk) | Cluster RCT |
| Coppack et al.21 | U.K. army recruits (intervention: 759 [male, 556; female, 203], control: 743 [male, 536; female, 207], age: 19.6 yr) | Basic military training (14 wk) | Strengthening and stretching | Traditional training | Anterior knee pain (12 wk) | Cluster RCT |
| Goodall et al.22 | Australia army recruits (total: 867 [male, 815; female, 52], intervention: 380, control: 487, age: 17−50 yr) | Basic military training (12 wk) | Balance and agility with normal physical training | Control (only normal physical training) | Lower-limb musculoskeletal injuries (12 wk) | Cluster RCT |
| Hartig and Henderson23 | U.S. army recruits (intervention: 150 [male], control: 148 [male], age: 20 yr) | Basic military training (13 wk) | Additional stretching with normal routine of stretching | Control (only normal routine of stretching) | Lower-limb musculoskeletal injuries (13 wk) | Quasi-RCT |
| Knapik et al.24 | U.S. army recruits (intervention: 829 [male, 486; female, 343], control: 1,138 [male, 656; female, 482], age: 21.8 yr) | Basic combat training (9 wk) | Strengthening, stretching and aerobic | Traditional training | Any injuries (9 wk) | Quasi-RCT |
| Pope et al.25 | Australia army recruits (intervention: 549 [male], control: 544 [male], age: 17−35 yr) | Recruit training (12 wk) | Stretching (lower body) | Stretching (upper body) | Lower-limb musculoskeletal injuries (12 wk) | Quasi-RCT |
| Pope et al.26 | Australia army recruits (intervention: 735 [male], control: 803 [male], age: 17−35 yr) | Recruit training (12 wk) | Stretching (lower body) | Warm-up | Lower-limb musculoskeletal injuries (12 wk) | Quasi-RCT |
PICOS: Participants, Intervention, Control, Outcome, Study design; RCT: randomized controlled trial.
