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Prevalence of back pain in a group of elite athletes exposed to repetitive overhead activity.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The prevalence of back pain in athletes has been investigated in several studies, but there are still under- or uninvestigated sports discipline like sports exposed to repetitive overhead activity. Elite athletes spend much time in training and competition and, because of the nature of their disciplines, subject their bodies to a great deal of mechanical strain, which puts a high level of stress on their musculoskeletal systems. From this it is hypothesized that elite athletes who engage in repetitive overhead motions experience a higher strain on their spine and thus possibly a higher prevalence of back pain compared with an active control group. OBJECTIVES:To examine the prevalence of back pain and the exact location of pain in a cohort of elite athletes with repetitive overhead activity and in a control group of physically active sport students. Additionally, to examine different characteristics of pain, and to evaluate the influence of confounders on back pain. METHODS:A standardized and validated online back pain questionnaire was sent by the German Olympic Sports Confederation to German national and international elite athletes, and a control group of physically active but non-elite sports students. RESULTS:The final sample comprised 181 elite athletes of the sports disciplines badminton, beach volleyball, handball, tennis and volleyball and 166 physically active controls. In elite athletes, lifetime prevalence of back pain was 85%, 12-month prevalence was 75%, 3-month prevalence was 58% and point prevalence was 38%; for the physically active control group, these prevalences were 81%, 70%, 59% and 43%, respectively. There was no significant group difference in prevalence over all time periods. The lower back was the main location of back pain in elite athletes across all disciplines and in controls; additionally a distinct problem of upper back pain was found among volleyball players. CONCLUSION:Despite the high mechanical load inherent in the sport disciplines included in this study, the elite athletes who engaged in repetitive overhead activities did not suffer more from back pain than the physically active controls. This suggests that other mechanisms may be influencing back pain prevalences in a positive way in these athletes. Furthermore, these disciplines may practice preventive factors for back pain that outweigh their detrimental factors. Therefore, we posit that extensive prevention work is already being implemented in these sports and that there are additional individual protection factors in play. More research is required to explore these suppositions, and should include investigations into which preventive training programs are being used. Nevertheless, in volleyball particularly, a focus on stabilization/preventive training should be applied to the upper back and neck.

SUBMITTER: Fett D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6345455 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prevalence of back pain in a group of elite athletes exposed to repetitive overhead activity.

Fett Daniela D Trompeter Katharina K Platen Petra P

PloS one 20190124 1

<h4>Background</h4>The prevalence of back pain in athletes has been investigated in several studies, but there are still under- or uninvestigated sports discipline like sports exposed to repetitive overhead activity. Elite athletes spend much time in training and competition and, because of the nature of their disciplines, subject their bodies to a great deal of mechanical strain, which puts a high level of stress on their musculoskeletal systems. From this it is hypothesized that elite athletes ...[more]

PMID: 30677044

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Project description:ObjectivesTo establish the prevalence of back pain in German elite athletes; examine the influence of age, sex, sports discipline and training volume; and compare elite athletes with a physically active control group.MethodsA standardized and validated online back pain questionnaire was sent by the German Olympic Sports Confederation to approximately 4,000 German national and international elite athletes, and a control group of 253 physically active but non-elite sports students.ResultsWe received responses from 1,114 elite athletes (46.5% male and 53.1% female, mean age 20.9 years ± 4.8 years, mean height 176.5 ± 11.5 cm, mean weight 71.0 ± 10.3 kg) and 166 physically active sports students (74.7% male and 24.1 female, mean age 21.2 ± 2.0 years, mean height 180.0 ± 8.0 cm, mean weight 74.0 ± 14.5 kg). In elite athletes, the lifetime prevalence of back pain was 88.5%, the 12-month prevalence was 81.1%, the 3-month prevalence was 68.3% and the point prevalence was 49.0%, compared with 80.7%, 69.9%, 59.0% and 42.8%, respectively in the control group. The lifetime, 12-month and 3-month prevalences in elite athletes were significantly higher than in the control group. Regarding the individual sports disciplines, the prevalence of back pain was significantly higher in elite rowers, dancers, fencers, gymnasts, track and field athletes, figure skaters and marksmen, and those who play underwater rugby, water polo, basketball, hockey and ice hockey compared with the control group. The prevalence of back pain was significantly lower in elite triathletes.ConclusionsBack pain is a common complaint in German elite athletes. Low back pain seems to be a problem in both elite athletes and physically active controls. A high training volume in elite athletes and a low training volume in physically active individuals might increase prevalence rates. Our findings indicate the necessity for specific prevention programs, especially in high-risk sports. Further research should investigate the optimal dose-effect relationship of sporting activity for the general population to prevent back pain.

Project description:Background:Previous studies shows that elite and high-level athletes possess consistently higher pain tolerance to ischemic and cold pain stimulation compared to recreationally active. However, the data previously obtained within this field is sparse and with low consistency. Purpose:The aim of the present study was to examine the difference in pain perception between elite and high-level endurance athletes (cross country skiers and runners), elite soccer players and non-athletes, as well to explore the impact of psychological factors on pain processing. Methods:Seventy one healthy volunteers (33 females and 38 males) participated in the study. Soccer players (n = 17), cross country skiers (n = 12), and long-distance runners (n = 3) formed the athlete group, with 39 non-athletes as controls. Big-five personality traits, fear of pain and Grit (perseverance and passion for long-term goals) were measured prior to induction of experimental pain. Pain threshold and intensity was induced by a PC-controlled heat thermode and measured by a computerized visual analog scale. Pain tolerance was measured by the cold pressor test (CPT). Results:Elite and high-level athletes had increased pain tolerance, higher heat pain thresholds, and reported lower pain intensity to thermal stimulation. Endurance athletes (cross country skiers and long-distance runners) had better tolerance for cold pain compared to both soccer-players and non-athletes. Furthermore, endurance athletes reported lower pain intensity compared to non-athletes, whereas both endurance athletes and soccer players had higher heat pain thresholds compared to non-athletes. Fear of Pain was the only psychological trait that had an impact on all pain measures. Conclusion:The present findings suggest that sports with long durations of physically intense activity, leveling aerobic capacity, are associated with increased ability to tolerate pain and that the amount of training hours has an impact on this tolerance. However, the small sample size implies that the results from this study should be interpreted with caution.

Project description:To examine prevalence of verbal, physical, and sexual abuses in young elite athletes, a cross sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted during the World Athletics under 20 World Championships. This questionnaire aimed at distinguishing between abuses perpetrated in the context of Athletics from those which were unrelated to Athletics. Four hundred and eighty athletes (52.3%, male) from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania took part in the electronic anonymous survey. Outside Athletics setting, no gender difference was found for the prevalence of verbal, physical, and sexual abuses. However, 45 males (18% of the male population) and 34 females (15% of the female population) athletes reported sexual abuse. Asian athletes reported a slightly higher rate of sexual abuse; three quarters of them being non-touching abuses. Inside Athletics setting, no gender difference was found for the prevalence of verbal, physical, and non-touching sexual abuses. However, 58 males (23%) and 47 females (21%) reported verbal abuses. Thirty-one males (12%) and 20 females (9%) reported physical abuses, whereas 30 males (12%) and 17 females (7%) reported sexual abuses. Physical abuses were slightly more frequent in Asia and in Africa and less frequent in South America. Sexual abuses inside Athletics also differed over regions, and were unexpectedly twice more frequent than expected in Asia and slightly less frequent than expected in Europe. Friends and partners were identified as the more frequent (>50%) abusers outside or inside the Athletics settings, whereas outside Athletics and inside Athletics, coaches were identified as sexual abuse perpetrators in 8 and 25% of cases, respectively. The prevalence of verbal, physical, or sexual abuses is high but consistent with what has been reported in United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, and Sweden at national level in recreational or elite athletes. Sexual abuse, including touching or penetrative abuses, occurred significantly more often in male athletes when compared to female athletes. This finding invites healthcare and social workers, and policymakers to also consider the risk of sexual abuse of young male athletes in Athletics. These results also call for longitudinal studies on young elite athletes.

Project description:The back is subjected to a great deal of strain in many sports. Up to 20% of all sports injuries involve an injury to the lower back or neck. Repetitive or high impact loads (e.g., running, gymnastics, skiing) and weight loading (e.g., weightlifting) affect the lower back. Rotation of the torso (e.g., golf, tennis) causes damage to both, the lumbar and thoracic spine. The cervical spine is most commonly injured in contact sports (e.g., boxing, football). One of the factors that increases the odds of injuries in athletes is excessive and rapid increases in training loads. In spite of currently emerging evidence on this issue, little is known about the balance between physiological loading on the spine and athletic performance, versus overloading and back pain and/or injury in athletes. This scoping review aims (i) to map the literature that addresses the association between the training load and the occurrence of back pain and/or injury, especially between the Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR) and back problems in athletes of individual and team sports, and (ii) to identify gaps in existing literature and propose future research on this topic. A literature search of six electronic databases (i.e., MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, SportDiscus, and CINAHL) was conducted. A total of 48 research articles met the inclusion criteria. Findings identified that fatigue of the trunk muscles induced by excessive loading of the spine is one of the sources of back problems in athletes. In particular, high training volume and repetitive motions are responsible for the high prevalence rates. The most influential are biomechanical and physiological variations underlying the spine, though stress-related psychological factors should also be considered. However, limited evidence exists on the relationship between the ACWR and back pain or non-contact back injuries in athletes from individual and team sports. This may be due to insufficiently specified the acute and chronic time window that varies according to sport-specific schedule of competition and training. More research is therefore warranted to elucidate whether ACWR, among other factors, is able to identify workloads that could increase the risk of back problems in athletes.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of back pain in a group of elite athletes exposed to repetitive overhead activity.

Publications

Prevalence of back pain in a group of elite athletes exposed to repetitive overhead activity.

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