Do adolescents with long-term illnesses and disabilities have increased risks of sports related injuries?

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study is to examine the rates of sports related injuries in adolescents based on the severity of their long-term illnesses or disabilities (LTID). Few injury prevention strategies in sports and health promotion have explored disaggregation by disability.MethodsData obtained from the 2014 Finnish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey (n = 3716, mean age = 14.8, SD = 1.03) were grouped into adolescents with and without LTID. A further indicator or severity was determined when adolescents reported their LTID affected their participation (affected LTID). Odds ratio (95% CI) were used to determine the associations between sports related injuries and LTID, daily moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA), being a sports club member, physical competence, and family encouragement, after controlling for age, gender and family affluence.ResultsOne in four adolescents (25%) reported to have LTID and one in eight adolescents (12.5%) reported sports injuries. The odds for adolescents with chronic conditions, functional and learning difficulties was the highest (OR 3.55, CI = 2.3–5.4) for overall injuries, when compared with adolescents without LTID. Adolescents with affected LTID (OR = 2.08, CI = 1.5–2.9) were more likely to report medically attended injuries than adolescents without LTID. Sports-related injuries (OR = 0.33, CI = 0.1–0.8) were lower in adolescents with affected LTID than those without LTID after adjusting for personal and environmental factors.ConclusionsTaking part in sport clubs increases the risk of sports related injuries in adolescents with and without LTID, but not with affected LTID. Few adolescents with affected LTID participate in sports clubs and were less likely to report the most serious type of injury to be from sports. These results could be used for devising sports based injury prevention and health promotion strategies for children with LTID.

Sports participation and sports injuries in Dutch boys with haemophilia

“…A detailed Australian study showed a transient increase in bleeding risk in children and adolescents with moderate and severe hemophilia after vigorous physical activity but the absolute increase in bleeding risk was small 27 . A nationwide cross‐sectional study in Finland reported higher sports injury risk in adolescents with a chronic health condition (eg, asthma, diabetes, and joint pain) than in the general population 28 …”

Sports participation related to injuries and illnesses among ambulatory youth with chronic diseases: results of the Health in Adapted Youth Sports study

“…Sports participation has important health benefits in both healthy youth and peers with chronic diseases or physical disabilities (CDPD) (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Studies have shown strong associations between being member of a sports club and the amount of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous activity levels (VPA) in youth with CDPD; those who are sport club members are twice as likely as nonmembers to meet international physical activity (PA) recommendations (4,6,7). Meeting adequate PA levels supports a healthier lifestyle.…”

Sports participation related to injuries and illnesses among ambulatory youth with chronic diseases: results of the Health in Adapted Youth Sports study

“…Sports participation has important health benefits in both healthy youth and peers with chronic diseases or physical disabilities (CDPD) [1][2][3][4][5]. Studies have shown strong associations between being member of a sports club and the amount of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous activity levels (VPA) in youth with CDPD; those who are sport club members are twice as likely as non-members to meet international physical activity (PA) recommendations [5][6][7]. Meeting adequate PA levels supports a healthier lifestyle.…”

“…At the same time, sports participation is also known to lead to sports-related injuries and illnesses, as shown in adults, healthy youth and among youth with CDPD [5][6][7]. Sports injuries among healthy youth have a considerable impact on their participation and performance in subsequent activities [6,8].…”