764 EP074 – Establishing an injury monitoring system for youth athletes in the German ice skating union

Background High training loads and sport specific internal risk factors from an early age can lead to serious acute and overuse injuries. Nevertheless, there is almost no system for monitoring and preventing injuries in junior figure skating in Germany. Objective Development of an injury surveillance system, taking context of junior elite sports within the German Figure Skating Union into account Design Qualitative research including literature review and survey amongst experts and development of a theoretical approach for the German Ice Skating Association to set up an injury surveillance system. Setting N/A Participants National and athletic coaches, medical staff Interventions A qualitative study aimed to develop injury surveillance, aetiology and mechanisms of injury. Injuries, relevant factors and context were further explored through interviews and surveys. Main Outcome Measurements Systematic literature analysis for epidemiological studies, interview and survey. Results Literature reveals an increase in incidence of figure skating injuries. However, there is a lack of literature for junior athletes. After evaluating interviews and surveys of coaches and doctors, a strategy for continuous, standardized and complete assessment of sport-specific injury data for German figure skaters was developed. In an annual injury report, coaches can view injury frequency, most common injuries and injury mechanisms and receive recommendations for injury prevention measures. Prevention measures could be mandatory protective gear in certain situations, rule adaptations or training interventions (foot and ankle stabilization or leg axis training). Additionally, assessing of training load (number of jumps etc.) could be helpful in preventing overuse injuries especially in junior single skaters. Conclusions With this injury surveillance system, the German Ice Skating Union could monitor injury in young figure skaters and adapt training recommendations or increase the safety of athletes in training or competitive situations. The system will be tested and evaluated within the next 3 years.