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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SPORT INJURY RISK AND TYPES OF INJU-RIES: A RETROSPECTIVE TWELVE-MONTH STUDY ON CROSS-COUNTRY SKIERS, SWIMMERS, LONG-DISTANCE RUNNERS AND SOCCER PLAYERS |
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Leena Ristolainen1  ,
Ari Heinonen2, Benjamin Waller2, Urho M. Kujala2
and Jyrki A. Kettunen3 |
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1ORTON Orthopaedic Hospital, ORTON Foundation, Helsinki, Finland, 2Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 3ORTON Research Institute, ORTON Foundation, Helsinki, Finland |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2009) 8, 443 - 451 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| This twelve months survey compared injury risk and injury types
by genders (312 females, 262 males) in 15- to 35-year-old cross-country
skiers, swimmers, long- distance runners and soccer players. More male than
female athletes reported at least one acute injury (44% vs. 35%, p <
0.05), and more male than female runners reported at least one overuse injury
(69% vs. 51%, p < 0.05). When the incidence of acute and overuse injuries
both separately and combined was calculated per 1000 training hours, per
1000 competition hours and all exposure hours combined we found no gender
differences in either of these comparisons. After adjustment for sport event
males were at increased risk for posterior thigh overuse injuries compared
to females (relative risk (RR) 5.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3 to
26.4, p < 0.05) while females were at increased risk for overuse injuries
in the ankle compared to males (RR 3.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 9.3, p < 0.05).
After adjustment for exposure time (injuries/1000 exposure hours) significance
of the difference between the sexes in overuse injury to the ankle persisted
(female 0.11 vs. male 0.02 injuries/1000 exposure hours, p < 0.05). Six
athletes had an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, of whom four were
female soccer players. After combining all reported acute and overuse ankle
and knee injuries, the proportion of athletes with such injury was higher
in the female compared to male soccer players (75% and 54% respectively;
p < 0.05), but no difference was found in such injuries when calculated
per 1000 exposure hours. In conclusion, we found some gender differences
in sport-related injuries, but most of these differences seemed to be explained
at least in part by differences in the amount of training.
Key words: Male, female, athletic injuries, acute injury, over-use injury. |
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