Information about project titled 'Development of new methods to record overuse problems among athletes'
Development of new methods to record overuse problems among athletes
| Details about the project - category | Details about the project - value |
|---|---|
| Project status: | Published |
| Project manager: | Roald Bahr |
Description
Overuse injuries may represent as much of a problem as do acute injuries in many sports.
The purpose of this project was to examine key concepts related to the methodology for recording overuse symptoms, using results from the FIVB Volleyball Injury Study to compare different injury recording methods.
Based on the results, the objective was to provide recommendations on how standardized methodology can be developed to quantify overuse injuries in surveillance studies. Using beach volleyball data, a “traditional” cohort study approach using a time-loss injury definition suggested that injury risk was very low. In contrast, the data from a survey of past and present pain problems in the shoulder, knees and low back demonstrated that these were prevalent.
The following recommendations were made on the methodology for overuse injury recording based on these findings: 1. Studies should be prospective, with continuous or serial measurements of symptoms; 2. Valid and sensitive scoring instruments need to be developed to measure pain and other relevant symptoms; 3. Prevalence and not incidence should be used to report injury risk; 4. Severity should be measured based on functional level and not time loss from sports.
In conclusion, new approaches are needed to develop more appropriate methodology to quantify overuse injuries in studies.