International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement Research Articles

Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS) Version 15

BackgroundSports medicine (injury and illnesses) requires distinct coding systems because the International Classification of Diseases is insufficient for sports medicine coding. The Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS) is one of two sports medicine coding systems recommended by the International Olympic Committee. Regular updates of coding systems are required. MethodsFor Version 15, updates for mental health conditions in athletes, sports cardiology, concussion sub-types, infectious diseases, and skin and eye conditions were considered particularly important. ResultsRecommended codes were added from a recent International Olympic Committee consensus statement on mental health conditions in athletes. Two landmark sports cardiology papers were used to update a more comprehensive list of sports cardiology codes. Rugby union protocols on head injury assessment were used to create additional concussion codes. ConclusionIt is planned that OSIICS Version 15 will be translated into multiple new languages in a timely fashion to facilitate international accessibility. The large number of recently published sport-specific and discipline-specific consensus statements on athlete surveillance warrant regular updating of OSIICS.

Genes Associated with Muscle, Tendon and Ligament Injury Epidemiology in Women’s Amateur Football Players

Background: There is a lack of specific genetic studies regarding injuries in women’s football. However, different genetic factors have been associated with tendon/ligament injuries in women football players. The aim of the study was to examine the genotypic frequencies of genes associated with injury risk and epidemiology in women’s amateur football players and the aetiology of injuries. Methods: In total, 168 women’s amateur football players from football clubs in the Spanish second division league and Caucasian descent were enrolled in this prospective observational cross-sectional study. AMPD1 (rs17602729), ACE (rs4646994), ACTN3 (rs1815739), CKM (rs8111989) and MLCK (rs2849757 and rs2700352) polymorphisms were genotyped. The characteristics of 169 non-contact injuries during the 2022/2023 season were classified following the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Consensus Statement for reporting injuries as follows: musculoskeletal, tendon/ligament, injury setting; and severity. The disequilibria of polymorphisms were estimated using the Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). The characteristics of the injuries were recorded, and the genotype characteristics were analysed. The genotype frequencies of all polymorphisms were compared between non-injured and injured football players and injury aetiologies. Results: The AMPD1 genotype distribution differed between tendon/ligament injured and non-injured (p = 0.003) with a higher frequency in the TT genotype and T allele. The genotype distribution was different for the CKM and MLCK c.37885C>A polymorphisms in training and match injuries (p = 0.038 and p = 0.031, respectively). In the ACTN3 and AMPD1 polymorphisms, the distribution of the TT genotype in both genes showed a higher frequency in severe injuries (all p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tendon/ligament injury epidemiology in women’s amateur football players was associated especially with the TT genotype of the AMPD1 gene. The TT genotype of the AMPD1 and ACTN3 genes was also associated with severity, and the CKM and MLCK polymorphisms were associated with injury settings.

Year-round injury and illness surveillance in UK summer paralympic sport athletes: 2016–2019

ObjectiveTo identify the priority injuries and illnesses across UK summer Paralympic World Class Programmes (WCP).MethodsFour years (2016–2019) of electronic medical records from 360 athletes across 17 Paralympic WCP sports were...

Ligament Injuries in Professional Male Handball Players: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study.

Handball is a sport that involves high-intensity actions throughout the game, such as sprints, jumps, landings, and high-speed, repeated throws. This, along with competitive and tactical factors, congested schedules, and the need to maintain a high level of performance throughout the season, contributes to a high injury rate. This study aimed to analyse ligament injuries in a professional handball team over six consecutive seasons. A total of 68 elite male Spanish handball players participated, with 54 time-loss injuries (i.e., injuries involving at least one day of absence) observed during this study period. Ligament injury information was recorded following the International Olympic Committee consensus statement. The overall incidence was 0.89 ligament injuries per 1000 h of exposure. Additionally, a higher incidence and burden of ligament injuries was observed during match-play compared to training. Most ligament injuries were classified as minor or moderate (i.e., 79.63% of the total), and 46.29% were reinjuries. A significantly higher incidence of ligament injuries was suffered in the lower limbs compared to the upper limbs (0.81 vs. 0.08 ligament injuries per 1000 h; p < 0.001). Specifically, the highest incidence was observed in the anterior talofibular ligament of the ankle (0.57 injuries per 1000 h of exposure), while the greatest burden was related to the anterior cruciate ligament (24.08 absence days per 1000 h of exposure). This study provides an overview of ligament injuries among professional handball players, highlighting the need to implement strategies with positive effects during competition (e.g., specific activation strategies or training programmes based on strength and balance) and to reduce injury recurrences.

Team USA injury and illness incidence at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the injury and illness incidence from Team USA athletes from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and assess any sex-based...

Mental health impacts of interpersonal violence in sports

Mental health impacts of interpersonal violence in sports

Year-round longitudinal health surveillance in UK Olympic Summer Sport Athletes 2016–2019

ObjectivesTo identify the priority injury and illness types across UK summer Olympic World Class Programme sports to inform development, implementation and evaluation of associated injury risk mitigation and management initiatives.MethodsFour...

World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy World Congress 2022 Peer-Reviewed Track Abstracts, May 5–7, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy World Congress 2022 Peer-Reviewed Track Abstracts, May 5–7, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Confronting Child Maltreatment in Youth Sports.

Confronting Child Maltreatment in Youth Sports.

Web-based exercise therapy for the treatment of depression

Web-based exercise therapy for the treatment of depression

"Nothing About Us, Without Us": Empowering the Youth Athlete Voice in #SafeSport.

"Nothing About Us, Without Us": Empowering the Youth Athlete Voice in #SafeSport.

Dietary Supplementation for Attenuating Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness in Humans.

Dietary supplements are widely used as a nutritional strategy to improve and maintain performance and achieve faster recovery in sports and exercise. Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is caused by mechanical stress and subsequent inflammatory responses including reactive oxygen species and cytokine production. Therefore, dietary supplements with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties have the potential to prevent and reduce muscle damage and symptoms characterized by loss of muscle strength and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). However, only a few supplements are considered to be effective at present. This review focuses on the effects of dietary supplements derived from phytochemicals and listed in the International Olympic Committee consensus statement on muscle damage evaluated by blood myofiber damage markers, muscle soreness, performance, and inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. In this review, the effects of dietary supplements are also discussed in terms of study design (i.e., parallel and crossover studies), exercise model, and such subject characteristics as physical fitness level. Future perspectives and considerations for the use of dietary supplements to alleviate EIMD and DOMS are also discussed.

Injury Profile in Professional Handball Players During 4 Consecutive Seasons According to Playing Positions: A Longitudinal Study.

The injury profile of each playing position in handball is a key factor in being able to improve the injury risk management process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to longitudinally analyze the differences in professional handball players' injury profile according to their playing position (ie, goalkeeper, back, wing, and line). Injury incidence and burden would be higher in back players compared with the other playing positions, while ligament and knee would be the most common injury type and location. Prospective cohort design. Level 4. Sixty-eight male handball players belonging to the same professional team participated in this study over 4 consecutive seasons. Injury incidence and injury burden were recorded as well as the severity, type, and location following the International Olympic Committee consensus statement. Although nonsignificant differences in injury incidence were found according to playing position (rate ratios [RRs] from 0.43 to 2.47; P > 0.05), back players reported the highest burden (60.65 absence days/1000 h; RR from 0.12 to 7.75;P < 0.05), with wing players showing a greater burden (54.29 absence days/1000 h; RR from 0.09 to 4.91; P < 0.05) in comparison with goalkeepers (12.19 absence days/1000 h) and line players (13.10 absence days/1000 h). Muscle/tendon injuries and sprains presented higher incidence and burden than other type of injuries, and a greater incidence and burden was reported for knee injuries in all playing positions. The highest injury incidence and injury burden is in back players in professional handball. This study provides comprehensive information on the injury profile of professional handball players, which can be useful for strength and conditioning coaches when developing specific injury risk management programs.

Body shaming and associated practices as abuse: athlete entourage as perpetrators of abuse

ABSTRACT In the 2016 International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on harassment and abuse, it was outlined that psychological abuse in sport research has been heavily focused on the coach–athlete relationship resulting in a lack of research on other members of the athletes’ support system such as their ‘entourage.’ Researchers of abuse have further noted that psychological abuse remains relatively underexplored in comparison to other types of athlete abuses (e.g. sexual abuse). As psychological abuse is one of the most common types of abuse occurring in sporting contexts, it has been flagged as an urgent safeguarding concern. Psychological abuse can be enacted in different ways with many associated behaviours. The present study explored one under-researched issue shown to be entrenched in sport culture – ‘body shaming’ – and how it constitutes psychological abuse. We also focused on the role of the athlete entourage (i.e. people associated with the athlete) in relation to psychological abuse through the body shaming of athletes. Using thematic analysis, three female athletes’ stories showed how they were subjected to psychological abuse from members of their entourage when their bodies failed to meet socio-cultural expectations (i.e. too fat, not ‘slim to win’). While it was not the central focus of our research, the athletes also explained how they were subjected to physical abuse and physical neglect from entourage members when they were perceived to be overweight or too fat. The athlete entourage members found to be perpetrators of abuse and physical neglect included the coach, the parent, the partner, and the manager. This research provides novel insight into how abuse is circulating through sporting contexts, and in so doing, generates knowledge for prevention and intervention initiatives in sport.

Tennis-specific extension of the International Olympic Committee consensus statement: methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport 2020

The IOC has proposed standard methods for recording and reporting of data for injury and illness in sport. The IOC consensus statement authors anticipated that sport-specific statements would provide further...

The fast-tracking of one elite athlete swimmer into a swimming coaching role: a practice contributing to the perpetuation and recycling of abuse in sport?

Recently, coach accreditation structures have involved the ‘fast-tracking’ of former elite athletes into coaching roles. This means that former athletes are having their coach education shortened for their time already served in the sport. Some of the reasons for fast-tracking include the perception that former athletes will quickly gain player respect, and, that they will recycle specific culturally entrenched coaching ideologies. The recycling or perpetuation of culturally entrenched ideologies is problematic given that many forms of harassment and abuse have come to be normalised in sporting contexts. Given that the International Olympic Committee Consensus statement highlighted that coach education is key to preventing harassment and abuse in sport, the lessening or shortening of education for former athletes sits in stark contrast to this recommendation. The aim of this research was to investigate whether one Australian elite swimmer who was fast-tracked into a swimming coaching role post-sport recycled abusive practices that she experienced as an athlete. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this research shows how one coach recycled practices which could be classified as physical and psychological abuse (also known as emotional abuse) because she had normalised them as an athlete. The implications of the fast-tracking of one athlete into a swimming coach role meant that she contributed to the perpetuation of physical and psychological abuse in sport.

In the frame, road map for Australian sport on an uncertain journey through COVID-19

In the frame, road map for Australian sport on an uncertain journey through COVID-19

Sport Medicine Diagnostic Coding System (SMDCS) and the Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS): revised 2020 consensus versions

Coding in sports medicine generally uses sports-specific coding systems rather than the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), because of superior applicability to the profile of injury and illness presentations in...

International Olympic Committee consensus statement: methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport 2020 (including STROBE Extension for Sport Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS))

Injury and illness surveillance, and epidemiological studies, are fundamental elements of concerted efforts to protect the health of the athlete. To encourage consistency in the definitions and methodology used, and...

International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement: Methods for Recording and Reporting of Epidemiological Data on Injury and Illness in Sports 2020 (Including the STROBE Extension for Sports Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS)).

Background:Injury and illness surveillance, and epidemiological studies, are fundamental elements of concerted efforts to protect the health of the athlete. To encourage consistency in the definitions and methodology used, and to enable data across studies to be compared, research groups have published 11 sport- or setting-specific consensus statements on sports injury (and, eventually, illnesses) epidemiology to date.Objective:To further strengthen consistency in data collection, injury definitions, and research reporting through an updated set of recommendations for sports injury and illness studies, including a new Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist extension.Study Design:Consensus statement of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).Methods:The IOC invited a working group of international experts to review relevant literature and provide recommendations. The procedure included an open online survey, several stages of text drafting and consultation by working groups, and a 3-day consensus meeting in October 2019.Results:This statement includes recommendations for data collection and research reporting covering key components: defining and classifying health problems, severity of health problems, capturing and reporting athlete exposure, expressing risk, burden of health problems, study population characteristics, and data collection methods. Based on these, we also developed a new reporting guideline as a STROBE extension—the STROBE Sports Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS).Conclusion:The IOC encourages ongoing in- and out-of-competition surveillance programs and studies to describe injury and illness trends and patterns, understand their causes, and develop measures to protect the health of the athlete. The implementation of the methods outlined in this statement will advance consistency in data collection and research reporting.