Background Dietary supplements (DSs) are commercially available products consumed as an addition to the usual diet and are frequently ingested by athletes. Objective Our objective was to examine the prevalence of DS use by athletes. Data Sources PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, OVID Healthstar, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health were searched for original research articles published up to August 2014. Search terms included specific sports, specific DSs, and other terms. Study Selection Studies were selected if they were written in English, involved athletes, and provided a quantitative assessment of the proportion of athletes using specific DSs. Summary Measure Percent of athletes using specific DSs. Synthesis of Data Methodological quality of studies was assessed by three reviewers using an 8-point scale that included evaluations for sampling methods, sampling frame, sample size, measurement tools, bias, response rate, statistical presentation, and description of the participant sample. Where there were at least two investigations, meta-analysis was performed to obtain summary (pooled) prevalence estimates (SPEs) on (1) DS use prevalence by sport and sex, (2) DS use prevalence by elite versus non-elite athletic status, and (3) specific DS prevalence for all athletic groups combined. Meta-analyses included evaluations of homogeneity and publication bias. Results A total of 159 unique studies met the review criteria. Methodological quality was generally low with an average ± standard deviation of 43 ± 16 % of available rating points. There was low homogeneity for SPEs when compiled by sport, athletic status, and/or specific DSs. Contributing to the lack of homogeneity were differences in studies’ objectives and types of assessments used (e.g., dietary surveys, interviews, questionnaires). Despite these limitations, the data generally indicated that elite athletes used DSs much more than their non-elite counterparts. For most DSs, use prevalence was similar for men and women except that a larger proportion of women used iron while a larger proportion of men used vitamin E, protein, and creatine. No consistent change in use over time was observed because even the earliest investigations showed relatively high use prevalence. Conclusion It was difficult to generalize regarding DS use by athletes because of the lack of homogeneity among studies. Nonetheless, the data suggested that elite athletes used dietary supplements far more than their non-elite counterparts; use was similar for men and women with a few exceptions; use appeared to change little over time; and a larger proportion of athletes used DSs compared with the general US population. Improvements in study methodology should be considered in future studies especially (1) defining DSs for participants; (2) querying for very specific DSs; (3) using a variety of reporting timeframes (e.g., daily, 2–6 times/week, 1 time/week and <1 time/week); (4) reporting the sampling frame, number of individuals solicited, and number responding; (5) reporting characteristics of volunteers (and non-volunteers, if available); and (6) using similar methods on several occasions to examine possible temporal trends among athletes.

About 50% of Americans and 60% to 70% of US military personnel use dietary supplements, some of which have been associated with adverse events (AEs). Nutritional supplements like sport drinks and sport bars/gels are also commonly used by athletes and service members. Previous dietary supplement and nutritional supplement surveys were conducted on Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard personnel. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate dietary and nutritional supplement use in Navy and Marine Corps personnel, including the prevalence, types, factors associated with use, and AEs. A random sample of 10,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel were contacted. Service members were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire describing their personal characteristics, supplement use, and AEs experienced. In total, 1,708 service members completed the questionnaire during August through December 2014, with 1,683 used for analysis. Overall, 73% reported using dietary supplements one or more times per week. The most commonly used dietary supplements (used one or more times per week) were multivitamins/multiminerals (48%), protein/amino acids (34%), combination products (33%), and individual vitamins and minerals (29%). About 31% of service members reported using five or more dietary supplements. Sport drinks and sport bars/gels were used by 45% and 23% of service members, respectively. Monthly expenditures on dietary supplements averaged $39; 31% of service members spent ≥$50/mo. Multivariate logistic regression modeling indicated that female sex (women/men; odds ratio [OR]=1.76, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.36), higher educational level (college degree/no college degree; OR=2.23, 95% CI 1.62 to 3.30), higher body mass index (calculated as kg/m(2)) (≥30/<25; OR=1.67, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.63), and a greater amount of resistance training (≥271/0 to 45 min/week; OR=2.85, 95% CI 1.94 to 4.17) were associated with dietary supplement use. Twenty-two percent of dietary supplement users and 6% of nutritional supplement users reported one or more AEs. For combination products alone, 29% of users reported one or more AEs. The prevalence of dietary supplement use in Navy and Marine Corps personnel was considerably higher than reported in civilian investigations for almost all types of dietary supplements, although similar to most other military services. Factors associated with dietary supplement use were similar to those reported in previous military and civilian investigations. Prevalence of self-reported AEs was very high, especially for combination products.

Soldiers are often required to carry heavy loads that can exceed 45 kg. The physiological costs and biomechanical responses to these loads, whilst varying with the contexts in which they are carried, have led to soldier injuries. These injuries can range from musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., joint/ligamentous injuries and stress fractures) to neurological injuries (e.g., paresthesias), and impact on both the soldier and the army in which they serve. Following treatment to facilitate initial recovery from injuries, soldiers must be progressively reconditioned for load carriage. Optimal conditioning and reconditioning practices include load carriage sessions with a frequency of one session every 10–14 days in conjunction with a program of both resistance and aerobic training. Speed of march and grade and type of terrain covered are factors that can be adjusted to manipulate load carriage intensity, limiting the need to adjust load weight alone. Factors external to the load carriage program, such as other military duties, can also impart physical loading and must be considered as part of any load carriage conditioning/reconditioning program.

Ts with the aim of identifying individuals who have functional limitations or asymmetries. It is assumed that individuals who can more effectively accomplish the required movements have a lower injury risk. This study determined the ability of FMS to predict injuries in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) cadets. Seven hundred seventy male and 275 female USCG freshman cadets were administered the 7 FMS tests before the physically intense 8-week Summer Warfare Annual Basic (SWAB) training. Physical training-related injuries were recorded during SWAB training. Cumulative injury incidence was calculated at various FMS cutpoint scores. The ability of the FMS total score to predict injuries was examined by calculating sensitivity and specificity. Determination of the FMS cutpoint that maximized specificity and sensitivity was determined from the Youden's index (sensitivity + specificity − 1). For men, FMS scores ≤12 were associated with higher injury risk than scores >12; for women, FMS scores ≤15 were associated with higher injury risk than scores >15. The Youden's Index indicated that the optimal FMS cutpoint was ≤11 for men (22% sensitivity, 87% specificity) and ≤14 for women (60% sensitivity, 61% specificity). Functional movement screening demonstrated moderate prognostic accuracy for determining injury risk among female Coast Guard cadets but relatively low accuracy among male cadets. Attempting to predict injury risk based on the FMS test seems to have some limited promise based on the present and past investigations....

Although a number of studies have been conducted on the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use in military personnel, these investigations have not been previously summarized. This article provides a systematic literature review of this topic.