Sports injuries in Finnish elite cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players

Abstract

In sports with different exercise-loading characteristics, acute and overuse injury profiles and gender differences in injuries were investigated. In addition, trainingrelated risk factors for overuse injuries in endurance athletes were studied. This twelve-month retrospective questionnaire study comprised Finnish elite crosscountry skiers (n=149), swimmers (n=154), long-distance runners (n=143) and soccer players (n=128) aged 15–35 years. Questionnaires were sent to the athletes in each sports at the end of the 2006 competition season. Athletes who ended their sports career because of injury were studied in more detail by means of a telephone interview (n=20) 7-11 months after the questionnaire. Over 70% of soccer players and one-third of endurance athletes had sustained at least one acute injury during the past twelve months. In soccer players and cross-country skiers the most common acute injury site was the ankle. In skiers, acute and overuse injuries occurred mainly in sports other than their own sports and the same was true for acute injuries in swimmers. However, overuse injuries in swimmers mainly originated from swimming, with the shoulder region as the most common anatomical site. Nearly every second athlete reported at least one overuse injury, with the highest injury frequency, most commonly in the foot, occurring among long-distance runners. Soccer players and runners reported absences of nearly two months on average from training and competitions owing to acute or overuse injury. Male athletes had higher prevalence of at least one acute injury, and among runners males had more commonly at least one overuse injury than females. Among endurance athletes, vigorous training, defined as more than 700 hours/year, and rest and recovery time of less than two days a week in the training season predisposed to overuse injury. Older athletes had higher risk for overuse injury, and especially tendon overuse injury. Female athletes (13%) ended their career more often because of injury than male athletes (5%). The most prevalent injury was in the knee, shoulder or ankle. Most sports career terminators (70%) reported injury-related mild or moderate permanent disability. In conclusion, type of loading was strongly associated with the anatomical location of an overuse injury. In cross-country skiing and swimming a significant proportion of acute injuries occurred in other than the athlete’s main sports. Vigorous athletic training without sufficient rest and recovery time may be a risk factor for an injury, especially an overuse injury. Severe injuries may terminate an athlete´s sports career and cause permanent disability.