Risk factors for foot blisters during road marching: Tobacco use, ethnicity, foot type, previous illness, and other factors

Three hundred thirty-nine freshmen participating in cadet basic training at the U.S. Military Academy completed a questionnaire that asked them about their previous military experience, gender, ethnicity, injuries and illness experienced in the last 12 months, foot type, cigarette smoking habits, sm okeless tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and sleep habits. They then perfo rmed a 21-km road march in about 6.5 hours. Their feet were examined for bl isters before and after the march. Univariate analysis showed that risk fac tors for foot blisters included ethnicity (blacks at lower risk than others ), a sickness in the last 12 months, no previous active duty military exper ience, use of smokeless tobacco, and flat feet (pes planus). Logistic regre ssion indicated that all of these were independent blister risk factors wit h the exception of no previous active duty military experience.