Researchers investigate the ability to utilize a big-data approach to enable early intervention and prevent workplace injury in active-duty military members

In a study performed on 223 active-duty US Airmen, researchers from the Air Force Institute of Technology evaluated whether it was possible to use a combination of demographic, biomechanical, and psychosocial factors to predict whether active-duty members of the U.S. Air Force would fail the Air Force Physical Fitness Test (APFT).

Check out the full paper in MPDI, or read the key findings below:

1. A combination of biomechanical and psychosocial factors can be used to predict the result of Air Force Physical Fitness Tests in active-duty airmen with a high degree of accuracy
2. Airmen who reported poor sleep quality, a recent injury resulting in physical restriction, or low fitness satisfaction and those with higher body mass index were at greater risk of fitness test failure
3. Neural networks outperformed more traditional statistical models in predicting fitness test results