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Health problems in national team cross-country skiers over a competitive season: a 17-week prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: Few long-term prospective studies have investigated health problems in elite competitive cross-country (XC) skiers. Hence, our objective was to compare the prevalence of health problems in national team XC skiers over a competitive season. METHODS: Forty national team XC skiers participat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Karlsson, Øyvind, Danemar, Magnus, Laaksonen, Marko S, McGawley, Kerry
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9594541/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36304721
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001408
Descripción
Sumario:OBJECTIVE: Few long-term prospective studies have investigated health problems in elite competitive cross-country (XC) skiers. Hence, our objective was to compare the prevalence of health problems in national team XC skiers over a competitive season. METHODS: Forty national team XC skiers participated in this prospective, observational study. Two groups were characterised according to performance level: senior (n=18, ~26 years old, 9 women) and development (n=22, ~21 years old, 9 women). The skiers reported all and substantial injuries and illnesses weekly for 17 consecutive weeks throughout the 2019/2020 competitive season using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire on Health Problems. RESULTS: The average weekly prevalence of all and substantial health problems was 19% (95% CI: 16% to 22%) and 12% (95% CI: 9% to 15%), respectively, and was similar between senior and development level skiers (p>0.05). The injury prevalence was higher in senior versus development level skiers (12%, 95% CI: 9% to 15% vs 5%, 95% CI: 3% to 7%; p<0.001), while illnesses were less common (8%, 95% CI: 3% to 13% vs 13%, 95% CI: 9% to 17%, respectively; p=0.031). Illnesses accounted for 72% of all problems. The prevalence of all health problems was higher in female than in male skiers (23%, 95% CI: 19% to 27% vs 15%, 95% CI: 11% to 19%; p<0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Health problems, especially illnesses, were relatively common, with approximately one in five skiers (19%) reporting at least one problem in any given week. Both performance level and sex influenced the prevalence of different types of health problems.