Comparative sport injury epidemiological study on a Spanish sample of 25 different sports

Abstract

Sport injury is a widely extended morbidity condition. However, epidemiological studies are far from giving a convergent outlook. Moreover, there is a lack of studies comparing relative risks of different groups of sports. The present paper is aimed to carry out a descriptive epidemiological study of sport injuries of athletes from 25 sport modalities in order to identify risk factors as well as to compare epidemiological characteristics according to the different sport groups. A sample of 297 athletes from different sport federations in the region of Madrid (Spain) were assessed using a protocol comprising a section about the sport being practiced and a section about injury incidence. Due to the wide variety of sport modalities, the sample was classified into four groups according to the Blázquez and Hernández Moreno’s (1984) sports classification. Results showed no gender but age differences in injury incidence. They also showed differences in terms of injury frequency and severity (elapsed time between the injury and the returning to sport practice) among sport groups, being athletes practicing co-operation-opposition sports those who seemed to be more at risk. There were also differences regarding internal/external causes and when the injury was sustained. The global exposure injury rate (training and competition) rose to 4.1 injuries/1.000 hours.