Winter Adaptive Sports Participation, Injuries, and Equipment

Abstract

As the participation rate and popularity of winter adaptive sports increases, understanding injury patterns and equipment is crucial for athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, sports physicians, prosthetists/orthotists, and all the staff involved. While the inaugural Winter Paralympics in 1976 had 17 participating countries, the most recent paralympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea had >500 athletes from 49 different countries competing in 6 disciplines: alpine skiing, nordic skiing, sledge hockey, wheelchair curling, biathlon, and snowboarding. In this paper, we review participation rates, injury trends and equipment, with a focus on the 3 most popular events: alpine skiing, nordic skiing, and sledge hockey. Despite injury risk within this athletic community, there are documented advantages to physical movement, and for each individual the risks of injury have to be weighted with the benefits of competing. Overall, there is a need for educational efforts regarding the development, access, and participation to injury prevention programs with an integrated and multidisciplinary approach.

The Prevalence of Injuries and Traumas in Elite Goalball Players

“…The scientific literature has demonstrated that the identification of factors that generate injuries and/or trauma, their prevalence, their type, and their nature are important issues for sports science [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. Only proper recognition of this problem is the basis for optimal training, without compromising the health of the athlete.…”

Lessons from the Winter Paralympic Games disclosing the epidemiology of winter sports injury in paralytic athletes: a meta-analysis

“…However, from study of Clarsen et al, the incidence of sport injury seemed to be comparable between Winter Paralympic athletes and Winter Olympic athletes [ 2 ]. Among winter sports, alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and sledge hockey were extensively regarded as the 3 most popular items in disabled athletes [ 3 ]. Meanwhile, injury risk of these winter sports items within the paralytic athlete community are frequently documented.…”

Adaptive Sport Participation in the Pediatric Population

“…[12][13][14] Modifications are created both in the rules of the game as well as the equipment that is involved in any individual adaptive sport. 15,16 Criteria for participating in these activities include an individual experiencing a substantive persistent permanent disability affecting cognition function, visual acuity, motor function, or a combination of organ systems. Common participants in adaptive sports include but are not limited to those with Cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, Hemophilia, limb deficiency, or amputation.…”