Knee pain in young sports players aged 6 to 15 years: a cross-sectional study in Japan

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Background Knee pain is a common symptom among young sports players. Nevertheless, few studies with large sample size have been published reporting the difference of the prevalence of knee pain for each sport among young sports players. Methods This study was to investigate the point prevalence of knee pain according to age, sex and sports discipline and the association between knee pain and sports discipline among young sports players. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-reported questionnaire on young sports players aged 6–15 years who belonged to the Miyagi Amateur Sports Association. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between knee pain and sports discipline and were adjusted for age, sex, training days per week, and training hours per weekday and weekend. Results A total of 7234 young sports players were included. The point prevalence of knee pain was 10.9%. Females (13.3%) had more knee pain than males (9.8%). 13 years had the highest prevalence of knee pain (19.1%). In multivariable analysis, mini-basketball (odds ratio, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.44–2.52) and basketball (odds ratio, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.20–2.18) were significantly associated with knee pain, compared with football. Conclusion The prevalence of knee pain among young athletes differed according to age, sex, and sports discipline. Their parents and clinicians should recognize this information to manage knee pain prevention among young sports players.

Sport-specific knee pain risk in youth athletes may inform monitoring; cross-sectional data leaves open causal confirmation and prevention trials.