Health problems in youth competitive alpine skiing: A 12‐month observation of 155 athletes around the growth spurt

Abstract

Alpine ski racing is known as a high‐risk sport; however, little is known on the health problems occurring at youth level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of health problems in youth competitive alpine skiers with respect to sex, age, and season differences, to describe their severity and location and to assess the influence of biological maturation. Over a 12‐month period, 155 youth competitive alpine skiers around the growth spurt were prospectively monitored for health problems using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) questionnaire. These data were verified by supplemental interviews at the end. Biological maturation was estimated by a non‐invasive, anthropometric‐based assessment method. During competition season, 42.2% of the skiers suffered from health problems and 19.8% reported their problem being substantial. Females had significantly higher rates of acute and overuse injuries compared to males, while there was no sex difference in duration, severity, and time loss. Skiers of the category U15 showed higher prevalence of acute and overuse injuries than U14 skiers. During preparation season, health problem prevalence was substantially lower. The knee was found to be the most affected body part for both acute and overuse injuries. There was a direct association between the offset to the age at peak height velocity (APHV) and the occurrence and severity of acute injuries. In conclusion, youth competitive alpine skiers suffer from a large number of health problems. Since sex, age, and biological maturation are important, effective injury prevention should already start before reaching the APHV.

Lower Back Complaints in Adolescent Competitive Alpine Skiers: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Despite these plausible sports-related adverse loading patterns, only a few studies, however, have investigated the occurrence of lower back complaints in competitive alpine skiers. Moreover, due to focusing on a different age group and reporting other time prevalence measures or absolute injury rates, most of them are not directly comparable to the results of the current study [3,4,6,8,11]. The only study directly comparable to our investigation reported similar magnitudes of current low back pain (67.0%) in ski high school athletes aged 15-19 years [30].…”

“…Conversely, the frequency of lower back complaints lasting more than two weeks changed from 3.3% in the off-season to 21.3% in the period of the competition season. This fact may suggest that more severe lower back complaints emerge from skiing rather than from off-snow training [3].…”

“…Competitive alpine skiing is a popular yet high-risk sport. At all competition levels, health problems are frequent [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In particular, lower back has been reported to be one of the most affected body regions for overuse complaints [8].…”

Thigh muscle activation patterns and dynamic knee valgus at peak ground reaction force during drop jump landings: Reliability, youth competitive alpine skiing-specific reference values and relation to knee overuse complaints

“…With respect to overuse injuries, the knees (and especially the patella tendon) are most affected in both youth and elite skiers. [9][10][11] A major concern pertains to youth skiers around the growth spurt, whose bodies are still maturing and, therefore, are especially sensitive to unfavourable loads. 11,12 Moreover, in under 16 years old (U16) skiers, overuse injuries revealed to be more frequent in females than in males.…”

“…11,12 Moreover, in under 16 years old (U16) skiers, overuse injuries revealed to be more frequent in females than in males. 9 In skiing, up to 1.75 times the body weight can act on each leg, 13 and the knee joint is inevitably subjected to extreme kinematics, including high degrees of flexion and valgus. 14 In addition, due to uneven or bumpy snow surfaces and the chattering of the skis when interacting with the snow surface while turning, skiers are typically exposed to high vibration loads and impact-like shocks, that are partially attenuated by the knee joint and the perturbation-induced activation of its stabilizing muscles.…”