Are Adolescent Climbers Aware of the Most Common Youth Climbing Injury and Safe Training Practices?

Rachel N Meyers,David R Howell,Aaron J Provance,Steven L Hobbs

doi:10.3390/ijerph17030812

Abstract

Finger growth plate injuries are the most common youth climbing injuries. The purpose of our study was to understand youth awareness of the most common youth climbing injury and safe training practices. We surveyed climbers, ages eight to 18 years old, at the 2017 USA Climbing Sport and Speed Youth National Championships. A total of 267 climbers completed the survey (mean age = 14 ± 2.7 years; 52% male). The A2 pulley injury was reported as the most common youth climbing injury by the largest portion of participants, 36%. The second most commonly identified injury was at the growth plate of the finger, 15% of participants, which was reported as significantly less than the A2 pulley injury, p < 0.001. Six percent of climbers reported the correct safe age to start double dyno campus board training. Roughly 18% of athletes identified growth plate injuries exclusively as a stress fracture, whereas 29.2% of those climbers self-reported as informed about finger growth plate injuries, but only 7.4% of climbers who self-reported as uninformed answered this question correctly. Misperceptions about skeletally-immature climbing injuries are prevalent amongst youth climbers. Education on the prevalence of finger growth plate injuries and the scarcity of A2 pulley injuries in youth climbers can increase diagnostic accuracy, improve care, and reduce long-term complications.

Highlights

In the United States, it is estimated that 60 million children aged six to 18 years participate in some form of organized sport [1]
One of the many inherent risks in youth sports is overuse injury, as an estimated 50% of injuries seen in pediatric sports medicine clinics are overuse in nature [2]
Pulley injuries are rare in skeletally-immature climbers, [14] we suspected more athletes to have reported an A2 pulley injury than a growth plate injury due to the high incidence of A2 pulley injuries being reported in skeletally-mature climbers [11]

Summary

Introduction

In the United States, it is estimated that 60 million children aged six to 18 years participate in some form of organized sport [1]. One of the many inherent risks in youth sports is overuse injury, as an estimated 50% of injuries seen in pediatric sports medicine clinics are overuse in nature [2]. Overuse injury has been associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis [3,4] and potential complications to musculoskeletal development [4,5]. There is currently a dearth of literature examining the education of youth athletes about common pediatric sports injuries. In order to reduce the risk for future overuse injury, it is essential to understand injury awareness and risk factors from the youth athlete’s perspective. Competition climbing is one of the many sports at risk for overuse injury. Repetitive overuse from bouldering and sport climbing, two subdisciplines in climbing, had the highest incidence of injury at

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