Prevalence and associations of injury and illness among high school elite sport-students in the south of Norway

Abstract

Introduction Youth participating in sports are often associated with a healthy lifestyle, however illness and injuries are frequently reported in sports. The aims for this master thesis were; (1) to examine the prevalence of sport injuries and illnesses among elite sport students at high school with regard to sport group and (2) to examine anthropometry, bone health, performance variables, energy availability and sleep time with associations to sport injuries and illness prevalence in the same sample. Methods Thirty-six high school elite sport students, endurance athletes (n=24) and ball game athletes (n=12) [age: 16.3±0.2 years presented as mean and standard deviation if normal distributed; body mass index (BMI): 20.8±1.8 kg/m2; body fat: 15.8% (10.7-24.7%) presented as median and interquartile rage if non-normal distributed; fat-free mass (FFM): 15.41 kg (47.7-60.6 kg)] were recruited. Test protocol included assessment of anthropometry, body composition, performance variables, energy availability, restitution, injuries and illnesses retrospective registration for the past six months. A total of 34 subjects were included in the analysis. Results Sixteen subjects experienced a total of 30 injuries (injury rate 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.47–1.29). Twenty-eight subjects were exposed to a total of 78 illnesses (illness rate 2.29, 95% CI 1.66 to 2.93). No risk factors associated significantly with injury or illness. Conclusion Prevalence of injury were higher in ball game sports versus endurance sports, while endurance sports had highest prevalence of illness. Neither anthropometry, bone health, performance variables, energy availability or sleep time were found associated with prevalence of injury or illness in this sample of participants. Keywords Adolescent, athlete health, bone health, energy deficiency, VO2max, reaction time, sleep