Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Background Long-track speed skating has a long Olympic History and places high physiological and technical demands on the athletes. However, there is little evidence-based knowledge on injuries in this sport. Objective To describe the frequency, type and severity of injuries in long-track speed skating. Design Prospective Cohort Setting The 2019–2020 season (44 weeks) of seven Dutch top-level junior skaters teams. Participants 84 highly-talented athletes (34 female, 50 male) with a mean age of 17.5 years (SD 1.2) were analyzed. Independent variables Hours of sport exposure and mode of training Main Outcome Measures Prevalence, incidence and burden of injuries Results A total of 146 unique injuries were recorded, of which 41.1% were acute mechanism, and 55.5% were repetitive mechanism injuries, with 5 cases of unclear onset. For acute mechanism injuries, the incidence rate was 2.0 (95% CI: 1.5–2.5) per 1,000 hours of sports exposure, and the average weekly prevalence was 8.2% (95% CI: 7.6 – 8.9). The head, shoulder and lumbosacral region were the body parts with the highest burden of 5.6 (95% CI: 4.8–6.5), 2.9 (95% CI: 2.3–3.5) and 2.2 (95% CI: 1.7–2.8) days of time loss per 1,000 hours exposure. For repetitive mechanism injuries, the average weekly prevalence was 14.6% (95% CI:13.5 – 15.8). Body parts with the highest burden were the knee, thoracic spine, lower leg and lumbosacral region, with 11.0 (95% CI: 9.8–12.2), 6.8 (95% CI: 5.9–7.7), 3.9 (95% CI: 3.2–4.6) and 2.5 (95% CI: 1.9–3.1) days of time loss per 1,000 hours exposure. Conclusion This study reports an overview of the extent and injury patterns of Dutch top-level junior long-track speed skaters. The results can be used to identify injury mechanisms and risk factors of the most severe injuries in the following steps and to develop and implement preventive measures in practice.
Hendricks et al. (Fri,) studied this question.