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Questionnaire effective for recording knee, shoulder, low back overuse sports injuries
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GENEVA — A new questionnaire designed to take into account sports injuries resulting from overuse effectively recorded pain, reduced sports participation and other problems, according to research presented here at the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy Congress 2012.
Ben Clarsen, PT, MSc, of Oslo, and colleagues recorded injuries of 313 athletes during a 13-week prospective study using a standard time loss questionnaire, as well as their experimental “overuse” questionnaire. The standard questionnaire yielded 103 time loss injuries — 61 overuse and 42 acute injuries. Using the new form, the team found 419 instances of overuse injuries of the knee, shoulder and lower back, with most injuries occurring in the knee.
Athletes who participated in cross-country skiing, handball, cycling, volleyball and floorball sports were included in the study.
“In comparing methods, we see that more than 10 times the number of problems were identified affecting a far, far greater majority of athletes,” when using the new questionnaire, Clarsen, a doctoral student at Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center & Norwegian Olympic Training Center, said. “This is because the majority of the overuse injuries did not lead to time lost. We feel that this method allows for a more valid and more nuanced assessment of the real burden of overuse injuries in the group data.”
Although the questionnaire is effective in identifying overuse problems, it is not as effective in registering all problems resulting from injuries. Additionally, it requires that four questions per sport and injury category be answered and is dependent on a good response rate, Clarsen said.
Reference:
- Clarsen B, Bahr R, Myklebust G. A new method of registration of overuse injuries in sport. Paper #FP29-978. Presented at the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy Congress 2012. May 2-5. Geneva.
- Disclosure: Clarsen has no relevant financial disclosures.
