Traumatic and Overuse Injuries Among International Elite Junior Rowers

Abstract

Background Junior rowers have competed internationally for over 4 decades, and there are no epidemiological data available on traumatic and overuse injury in this population. Objective To define the types of musculoskeletal problems present in international elite-level junior rowers and to determine whether gender, physical stature, rowing discipline, and training programs affect the incidence of reported injuries. Study Design Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods Injury data were obtained from a total of 398 rowers (42% female, 58% male) who completed a 4-page questionnaire on injury incidence while participating at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, in August 2007. Results Overall, 290 (73.8%) reported injuries involved overuse, and 103 (26.2%) were related to a single traumatic event. Female rowers were injured more frequently than male rowers (110.2 vs 90.5 injuries per 100 rowers). In both genders, the most common injury site was the low back followed by the knee and the forearm/wrist. The severity of reported injuries was incidental in 65.1%, minor in 21.4%, moderate in 10.4%, and major in 3.1% of cases. The rowers with traumatic injuries had less rowing experience than the uninjured rowers (median [C] ± interquartile range [Q] = 3 ± 3 years vs 4 ± 3 years; P = .043, Mann-Whitney test). Sweep rowers who changed rowing side during the current season had significantly more acute-onset low back injuries ( P = .012, χ2 test) than those who did not change rowing side during the same period. The incidence of traumatic injuries was significantly lower in rowers who regularly performed more than 10 minutes of posttraining stretching ( P = .030, χ2 test). Athletes who ran more than once a week had more overuse knee injuries than those who ran once or less per week ( P = .033, χ2 test). Conclusion Elite junior rowers attending the World Rowing Championships reported predominantly overuse injuries of low severity during the current rowing season. Low back injuries were the most frequent complaint of elite-level junior rowers.