Athletes who have already experienced an injury are more prone to adhere to an injury risk reduction approach than those who do not: an online survey of 7870 French athletics (track and field) athletes.
Athletics; Injuries; Psychology; Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Abstract :
[en] OBJECTIVE: To compare the perception towards injury risk reduction approach between athletes who have already experienced an injury and those who have not.
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a one-time online survey asking athletics athletes licensed at the French Federation of Athletics (http://www.athle.fr) about their perceptions regarding injuries and injury risk reduction behaviours. We statistically compared athletes who already experienced an injury and those who did not.
RESULTS: A total of 7870 athletes were included. 90% of athletes declared having experienced at least one injury. They (1) were proportionally more men than women, (2) had significantly more years of experience in athletics, (3) had a significant difference in disciplines (more hurdles, jumps and combined events and fewer sprint athletes), (4) had a significant difference in competition levels (more national and less departmental levels) and (5) reported significantly higher values or agreements in favour of injury risk reduction approach, compared with uninjured athletes. There were significantly more athletes declaring following injury risk reduction programmes among athletes who experienced at least one injury than those who did not.
CONCLUSIONS: Athletes who experienced at least one injury during their lifetime were more prone to adhere to injury risk reduction strategies than athletes who have never experienced an injury. Their entourage (coaches and health professionals) should use this fertile ground to implement injury risk reduction strategies. In addition, their experience should be disseminated to uninjured athletes to help them adhere to injury risk reduction without injury experience.
Disciplines :
Orthopedics, rehabilitation & sports medicine
Author, co-author :
Edouard, Pascal ; Inter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Biology (EA 7424), Université Jean Monnet, Lyon 1, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, Saint-Etienne, France ; Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine Unit, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Faculty of Medicine, Saint-Etienne, France ; European Athletics Medical & Anti Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA), Lausanne, Switzerland
Sorg, Marine; Centre de Ressources, d'Expertise et de Performance Sportive (CREPS) de Vichy, Vichy, France
Martin, Simon ; Centre de Ressources, d'Expertise et de Performance Sportive (CREPS) de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Verhagen, Evert ; Amsterdam Collaboration for Health and Safety in Sports, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ruffault, Alexis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie de la santé ; Laboratory 'Sport, Expertise and Performance' (EA 7370), French Institute of Sport, Paris, France
Language :
English
Title :
Athletes who have already experienced an injury are more prone to adhere to an injury risk reduction approach than those who do not: an online survey of 7870 French athletics (track and field) athletes.
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