571 MEP066 – Pre-participation health status and risk of sustaining an injury during international athletics championships

AbstractObjectives To determine the health status of athletes during the four weeks before the start of international athletics championships and to analyse the association between pre-participation health status and in-championships injuries.Design Prospective cohort studySetting Seven international athletics championships (2013–2018).Participants Registered elite athletes (n=1095).Main Outcome Measurements Personal and training characteristics (sex, age, country, height, weight, discipline, time spent in training), health status (injury and illness complaints) during the four weeks preceding the championships, and in-championships injuries. We performed a binomial logistic regression with in-championship injury (yes/no) as the dependent variable and sex, age, discipline (explosive/endurance), type of championship (outdoor/indoor) and pre-participation injury complaint (yes/no) and pre-participation illness complaint (yes/no) as independent variables, with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).Results About one-third of athletes (31.2%) reported an injury complaint and 21.6% an illness complaint during the four weeks before the championships. A total of 91 (8.3%) athletes incurred at least one in-championship injury. The univariate model showed that discipline, type of championship and pre-participation injury complaint (OR=2.57, 95%CI: 1.66 to 3.97) were significantly associated with in-championship injuries, and the multivariable model type of championship and pre-participation injury complaint (OR=2.64, 95%CI: 1.60 to 4.36) remained significantly associated with in-championships injuries.Conclusions Based on the results, we suggest i) improving the monitoring and if needed, the management of athletes' health in the final preparation of the international championships, and ii) screening the athletes at the start of the championships using the pre-participation health questionnaire to detect those with a higher risk of an in-championships injury and providing specific and appropriate attention and care to them.