International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement: Methods for Recording and Reporting of Epidemiological Data on Injury and Illness in Sports 2020 (Including the STROBE Extension for Sports Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS))

Abstract

International Olympic Committee Injury and Illness Epidemiology Consensus Group* † Background: Injury and illness surveillance, and epidemiological studies, are fundamental elements of concerted efforts to protect the health of the athlete. To encourage consistency in the definitions and methodology used, and to enable data across studies to be compared, research groups have published 11 sport-or setting-specific consensus statements on sports injury (and, eventually, illnesses) epidemiology to date.Objective: To further strengthen consistency in data collection, injury definitions, and research reporting through an updated set of recommendations for sports injury and illness studies, including a new Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist extension. Study Design: Consensus statement of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Methods: The IOC invited a working group of international experts to review relevant literature and provide recommendations. The procedure included an open online survey, several stages of text drafting and consultation by working groups, and a 3-day consensus meeting in October 2019.Results: This statement includes recommendations for data collection and research reporting covering key components: defining and classifying health problems, severity of health problems, capturing and reporting athlete exposure, expressing risk, burden of health problems, study population characteristics, and data collection methods. Based on these, we also developed a new reporting guideline as a STROBE extension-the STROBE Sports Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS). Conclusion:The IOC encourages ongoing in-and out-of-competition surveillance programs and studies to describe injury and illness trends and patterns, understand their causes, and develop measures to protect the health of the athlete. The implementation of the methods outlined in this statement will advance consistency in data collection and research reporting.

Facilitators and barriers for implementation of a load management intervention in football

“…This report is prepared according to the STROBE-SIIS checklist for observational studies. 26 Patient and public involvement Coaches were involved in the design of the intervention and recruitment of teams and players to the study. Coaches and players were not involved in the design of the research questions, the outcome measures or the analyses.…”

<p>Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Re-Injury Occurrence in Previously Concussed National Football League Athletes</p>

“…Two certified athletic trainers manually classified all MSK injuries (N=8836) from the injury reports of each of the 32 teams, as either repetitive (n=2100) or acute (n=6736) based on location and mode of onset. 12 Both upper and lower extremity injuries were included since SRC could lead to motor cortex dysfunction which disposes an athlete to a wide range of injuries, not limited to lower extremity. 13 Repetitive injuries were defined by a mechanism indicative of long-term repeated injury and were thus excluded from matching due to the inability to distinguish if injuries occurred from SRC or a pre-existing susceptibility.…”

Sports and Exercise Medicine in the Covid-19 Era -Let’s Make It a Good Marathon Run

“…It is important for the challenge of COVID-19-induced regular follow up and health evaluation of athletes and other physically active individuals to be managed in a scientifically sound manner. Available International Olympic Committee guidelines on reporting epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport (Bahr et al, 2020) may provide a uniform approach and future data comparison.…”