Injuries in Youth and National Combined Events Championships

Abstract

In major track and field competitions, the most risky discipline is the combined event. Therefore, we aimed to record and analyze the incidence and characteristics of sports injuries incurred during the Youth and National Combined Events Championships. During the French Athletics Combined Events Championships in 2010, all newly occurred injuries were prospectively recorded by the local organising committee of physicians and physiotherapists working in the medical centres at the stadium, in order to determine incidence and characteristics of newly occurred injuries. In total, 51 injuries and 9 time-loss injuries were reported among 107 registered athletes, resulting in an incidence of 477 injuries and 84 time-loss injuries per 1,000 registered athletes. Approximately 72% of injuries affected lower limbs and 60% were caused by overuse. Thigh strain (17.6%) was the most common diagnosis. 14 dropouts were recorded, 8 were caused by an injury (57.1%). During the National and Youth Combined Events Championships, over one third of the registered athletes incurred an injury, with an injury incidence higher than in international elite track and field competitions. Interestingly, this higher injury risk concerned the younger population affecting immature musculoskeletal structures. In combined events, preventive interventions should mainly focus on overuse and thigh injuries.

Meta-narrative analysis of sports injury reporting practices based on the Injury Definitions Concept Framework (IDCF): A review of consensus statements and epidemiological studies in athletics (track and field)

“…Reporting from clinical examinations was used predominantly in consensus statements and epidemiological studies involving professional athletes, [28][29][30][31][32] and was the main reporting context in studies performed at international championships. [28][29][30][31][32] The main argument for reporting of ill health in this context was that data collection from clinical examinations ensures reliability of data.…”

“…[28][29][30][31][32] The main argument for reporting of ill health in this context was that data collection from clinical examinations ensures reliability of data. Reporting in the clinical examination context became more common after it was recommended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the primary reporting context for studies performed at major multi-sports events.…”

No change in maximal lower extremity power output was induced by a decathlon

“…Furthermore, a greater injury risk has been reported in decathlon over other Athletics disciplines [12][13][14][15][16]. Indeed, during international championships, incidences of decathlon time-loss injury were from 115 to 200 per 1000 registered athletes compared to an overall time-loss injury risk around 45 to 70 per 1000 registered athletes [13,14,16].…”

“…Most injuries (∼75%) were located on the lower extremity and involving the musculo-tendinous system (e.g. hamstring strain, lower leg strain, Achilles tendinopathy and patellar tendinopathy) [12,[15][16][17]. In this context, a better knowledge of the neuromuscular fatigue occurrence, and especially the change in lower extremity power output, over the course of a decathlon appears of interest in a step-bystep injury prevention approach [18,19].…”

“…To our knowledge, some studies reported data on dropout risk in decathlon [2,17,23] and on injury risk in decathlon [12][13][14][15][16][17], only two studies reported information on the physiological demands during a decathlon (blood lactate accumulation [24] and cardiovascular demands [25]), and no data is available on the change in lower extremity power output induced by a decathlon. Evaluating the changes in power output of lower extremity muscles, over the course of a decathlon, appears of interest for athletes, coaches and medical teams, to better define/understand:…”