Adolescent anterior cruciate ligament injuries – a 10 year review

Abstract

Results: 817 (90%) questionnaires were completed, 59 (78%) subjects completed all twelve questionnaires. Injury incidence rate equalled 1.68 per 1000 exposure hours. The cumulative incidence was 95% with 72 new LBP episodes reported. 52.6% of subjects experienced at least one new episode of LBP. The point prevalence of LBP was 13.7%. Of these injuries, 45% were incidental, 29% were minor, 18% weremoderate and 9%were severe. There was a significantly positive high correlation between new LBP and total training hours per month (r= 0.83, p= 0.001). Previous history of LBP was found to be the most significant risk factor in developing new LBP (OR 2.03, p= 0.01). Age of the subjects was also a risk factor with the likelihood of developing a new low back injury increasing for every year in age (OR 1.07, p= 0.04. Subjects who had anMCS score of 16 or more out of 21 were more likely to develop LBP than those with a score of 15 or less out of 21; however this was not a statistically significant finding (OR 1.58, p= 0.08). Conclusion(s): LBP is a common injury among New Zealand representative rowers. There is a strong relationship between training load and the development on LBP. Implications: The ability to reduce injuries in sports requires a good knowledge of the current injury status. Implementing screening tools to identify risk factors is the next stage. A further stage requires the implementation of injury prevention programmes with appropriate follow up and evaluation to see if the injury rate has reduced. This methodology is useful for any sports injury prevention programme.