Previous and current injury and not training and competition factors were associated with future injury prevalence across a season in adolescent elite athletes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Understanding the factors associated with different injury prevalence profiles in young athletes is needed for the design of tailored injury prevention programs. Objectives: To explore the factors associated with different levels of injury prevalence in adolescent elite athletes. Methods: A total of 389 adolescent elite athletes (age range 15–19 years), participating in 16 different sports, were monitored repeatedly over 52 weeks using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Overuse Injury Questionnaire. The athletes were grouped in three injury categories: (1) “Low injury”; (2) “Medium injury”; and (3) “High injury,” based on the proportion of times the athletes reported substantial injury over the season. Results: Logistic and multinomial regression identified substantial injury the first week (odds ratio (OR) 53.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.1–407.7), and an interaction between sex and previous injury (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.1–12.4) as significant factors that increased the odds of belonging in the High injury compared to the Low injury group. A female athlete with a previous injury the last 12 months had a higher probability of belonging in the High injury group compared to a male athlete.No significant (p > .05) difference in training, sleep, or competition exposure was found across the injury category. Conclusion: Current substantial injury and previous injury were strongly associated with the most injured athletes. Coaches and medical team should consider limiting the injured athlete competition exposure.