Abstract
AbstractWomen currently make up 10.3% of regular British Army personnel, and 12.7% of British Army officers, with upturn in these figures since 2016 (Office for National Statistics, 2023). As the number of female recruits in training increases, there is an heightened importance to investigate issues relating to female-specific health and well-being (e.g. the female breasts). Breast and bra issues for female recruits in Basic Training (BT) were first investigated by Burbage et al. (2021), following this a sports bra fitting and issue service was implemented for all females entering British Army BT. However, it is not known whether this service, and the sports bras provided to recruits, are suitable for the demands of BT. Therefore, the aim of the work reported in this thesis was to investigate the bra needs of female British Army recruits undertaking BT, with the intention of providing evidence-based recommendations to inform the existing sports bra fitting and issue service.
Firstly, a two-part study was conducted across BT to: a) evaluate the current sports bra fitting and issue service using questionnaires (n = 244) and interviews (n = 7), and b) conduct a task analysis of BT to determine the tasks which were both physically demanding and demanding upon the breast. Despite the service reducing the number of issues previously reported by recruits (Burbage et al., 2021), 60% still reported one or more breast and bra issues. Thus, it was important to investigate which bras would be most appropriate for BT tasks. A laboratory-based study (n = 25) was conducted to investigate the performance of a number of sports bras with different characteristics during short duration simulations of military specific tasks. Finally, a longitudinal study was conducted with BT recruits (n = 93) to determine whether the recommended characteristics from short duration simulated tasks were the same over the long duration of BT (~14 weeks).
As a result of the work described in this thesis it was evident that there was not one set of sports bra characteristics that met the demands of all BT tasks, as well as the individual preferences of recruits. Therefore, it is recommended that a range of bras should be provided to meet these demands. it has been possible to recommend a set of desirable sports bra characteristics from both short duration simulation of BT tasks and long duration wear during BT. These characteristics differed and were therefore combined to create overall recommendations for bras for a range of BT tasks. Overall, the recommendations provided to the British Army as a result of this thesis have the potential to impact and improve the breast health and performance of women in BT and throughout their military career.
| Date of Award | 12 Jun 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Jenny Burbage (Supervisor), Gemma Milligan (Supervisor) & Alex Rawcliffe (Supervisor) |