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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Longitudinal monitoring data of para athletes is sparse.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the weekly prevalence and incidence of injuries and illnesses among German athletes preparing for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games.
METHODS: Athletes were invited to weekly report on medical problems, their severity/burden and training load, using the OSTRC Questionnaire on Health Problems (OSTRC-H). In case of any health problem, athletes were contacted and medical support offered. Data were analyzed with regard to impairment type. The acceptance of the monitoring program was evaluated.
RESULTS: 58 athletes were followed for 29 weeks, 10.927 athlete-days. At any given time, 28% (95% CI 26-30%) of athletes reported health problems, and 12% (11-14%) substantial health problems. The prevalence of health and illness problems diminished over time by 20.9±4.1% and 16.1±2.9%, P<.001, respectively, based on the means of the first and final five weeks. Paraplegic athletes reported a significantly higher prevalence of all health problems (33%, 29-37%) than non-paraplegic athletes (26%, 23-29%) (P=0.007). Illnesses were in general more severe and resulted in more time loss days. Athletes reported a high satisfaction with the program.
CONCLUSIONS: At any given time, 28% of German Paralympic athletes reported health problems, and 12% suffered from substantial health problems. For a health team, illnesses seem to be more important to handle than injuries. The OSTRC-H is a suitable method for injury and illness surveillance in para athletes.
Language: en |