• Margo Mountjoy, Astrid Junge, Sarah Benjamen, Kevin Boyd, Mohamed Diop, David Gerrard, Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband, Saul Marks, Enrique Martinez-Ruiz, Jim Miller, Kyriakos Nanousis, Farhad Moradi Shahpar, Jose Veloso, William van Mechelen, and Evert Verhagen.
• Department of Family Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), Lausanne, Switzerland International Olympic Committee (IOC), Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Br J Sports Med. 2015 Jan 1; 49 (1): 37-43.

BackgroundInjury and illness surveillance is the foundation for the development of prevention strategies.ObjectiveTo examine injuries among the aquatic disciplines in the 4 weeks prior to and during the 2013 FINA World Championships.MethodsThe study was comprised of two components: (1) a retrospective athlete survey recording injuries in the 4 weeks prior to the Championships and (2) a prospective recording of injuries and illnesses by the medical teams of the participating countries and the local host medical team.ResultsOne-third of the 1116 responding athletes reported an injury/physical complaint in the 4 weeks prior to the Championships. Significantly more women (36.7%) than men (28.6%) reported injuries. Divers reported the highest rate of injury/physical complaints (55.7%). At the start of the Championships, 70% of injured respondents (n=258) were still symptomatic; however, full participation was expected by 76%. During the Championships, 186 new injuries were reported (8.3/100 registered athletes) with the highest injury incidence rate in water polo (15.3/100 registered athletes). The most common injured body part was the shoulder (21%). A total of 199 illnesses were reported during the Championships (9.0/100 registered athletes) with the most common diagnosis of illness being gastrointestinal infection. Environmental exposure (allergy, otitis and jellyfish stings) was responsible for 27% of all illnesses in open water swimming.ConclusionsInjuries pose a significant health risk for elite aquatic athletes. A prospective study would improve understanding of out-of-competition injuries. Future injury and illness surveillance at FINA World Championships is required to direct and measure the impact of prevention strategies.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

25 keywords...

hide…