Information processing and accidental injuries.

Abstract

The prevention of sports injuries is an important objective in the reduction of accidental injuries (de Loes & Goldie 1988; Lattila et al. 1982; Lindqvist 1989; Sandelin et al. 1987). Sports accidents are costly for society and the injured individual (de Loes 1990). Four areas can be identified in the sports injury prevention (Backx et al. 1991; Van Mechelen et al. 1987). The first area includes the analysis of the nature, extent and severity of sports injuries. Secondly, the aetiological factors involved in sports injuries are identified. Thirdly, the application of preventive measures is done, followed by analysis of the effects ofthe preventive measures. However, very few studies have looked at aetiological factors and preventative measures (Ekstrand & Gillquist 1983a; Torg et al. 1985). Several aetiological factors involved in sports injuries have been analysed (Backx et al. 1991; Lysens et al. 1989; Taimela et al. 1990a). Commonly, injury risk factors in sports are classified as activity related (extrinsic factors) and participant related (intrinsic factors). Each type of activity has its characteristic injury profile and degree of risk and the type of injuries varies widely (de Loes & Goldie 1988; Kujala et al. 1988). Extrinsic injury risk factors include, for example, training errors (Clement et al. 1981; McKenzie et al. 1985;Sedgwick et al. 1988) and environmental conditions, such as terrain, weather and equipment (Ekstrand & Gillquist 1983b; Ekstrand et al. 1983; Grace et al. 1988; Hulkko 1988; James et aI. 1978; McKenzie et al. 1985). The participant related injury risk factors include abnormal anatomy or biomechanics (Kujala 1986; Lysens et al. 1989), poor aerobic or muscle conditioning (Kerr & Minden 1988; Watson 1984),former injuries (Ekstrand & Gillquist 1983b; Lysens et al. 1984; Robey et al. 1971), psychological factors (Jackson et al. 1978; Taerk 1977; Valliant 1981) and accumulation of life stress (Bramwell et al. 1975; Coddington & Troxell 1980; Cryan & Alles 1983; Kerr & Minden 1988; Passer & Seese 1983). There are few studies concerning the relationship between central motor control and sports injuries even though it is presumable that low grade motor control predisposes to accidental injury. It has also been suggested in some papers that poor coordination and slow psychomotor speed predispose to injury (Beck & Day 1985; Beck & Wildermuth 1985; Edwards 1988; Inkelis et al. 1988; Kelley 1990) and some experimental evidence has been recently gained also with regard to the hypothesis. This review discusses findings on information processing and the musculoskeletal injuries to-date and offers suggestions for future study. The concept of central motor control is presented in detail as it represents an essential part of information processing requirements in sports.