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

Carraro, Attilio; Gnech, Martina; Sarto, Fabio; Sarto, Diego; Spörri, Jörg; Masiero, Stefano

doi:10.3390/app10217408

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Adolescent athletes involved in sports that have repetitive extension, flexion, and rotation of the spine (e.g., gymnastics, soccer, dance) are the most susceptible to injuries in the lower back (17). Furthermore, a study on adolescent alpine skiers aged 15-18 years, that used a similar methodology as our study, reported that 80.3% of skiers suffered LBP during the last 12 months, and 50.7% during the last 7 days, which is a higher prevalence than in our study (38). Moreover, LBP among young alpine skiers was in 21.8% of cases classified as high intensity/low disability, which is of significantly higher prevalence than in our study (6%).…”

Section: The Prevalence Of Low Back Pain In Adolescent Climberssupporting

confidence: 52%

Lower back pain in young climbers: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Carraro,

Gilic,

Bertolo

et al. 2023

Front. Sports Act. Living

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveThe popularity of sport climbing has been growing since its inclusion in the Olympic Games program, which led to more people practicing it on recreational, amateur, and professional levels. Strenuous climbing training sessions and competitions might lead to frequent and serious musculoskeletal injuries and complaints among competitive climbers. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and to explore the influence of various risk factors on LBP in adolescent climbers.MethodsThe sample included 180 competitive climbers (46.6% males) aged 13–19 years competing in under-16 (48.3%) or under-20 categories. Data collection was carried out using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and the Graded Chronic Pain Scale (GCPS).ResultsA total of 74.4% of the entire sample of participants (male = 75%; female = 74%) reported lower back complaints throughout the past twelve months, and only 15.5% during the last seven days. A major part of complaints was classified as low intensity-low disability (Grade I, 62.8%; male = 72.6%; female = 54.2%). Under-20 competitors reported a small but significantly higher percentage of almost all NMQ measures compared to under-16 athletes.ConclusionsThis study found a relatively high prevalence of LBP, although complaints were of limited severity and did not affect climbers' regular training practice. Moreover, climbers did not differ in LBP prevalence according to sex, while climbers from the older age group reported higher complaints and seeking medical attention than younger climbers. Future studies should prospectively monitor the influence of climbing on LBP in youth climbers.

show abstract

Section: The Prevalence Of Low Back Pain In Adolescent Climberssupporting

confidence: 52%

Lower back pain in young climbers: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Carraro,

Gilic,

Bertolo

et al. 2023

Front. Sports Act. Living

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…25 Furthermore, pain intensity was significantly associated with years of sport participation, number of competitions per season, and number of ski days per season in adolescent competitive alpine skiers. 2 Studies on adult elite skiers showed that overuse-related back complaints occur both in the preparation phase (off-and on-snow training) and during the competition season. 11,12 The role of the lumbar multifidus (LMF) in overuse-related back complaints has been studied extensively.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lumbar Multifidus Morphology in Youth Competitive Alpine Skiers and Associated Sex, Age, Biological Maturation, Trunk Stability, and Back Complaints

Fitze

Franchi

Ellenberger

et al. 2022

Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The lumbar multifidus (LMF), as a dynamic stabilizer of the lumbar spine, may play an important role in the prevention of overuse-related back complaints. Hypothesis: LMF morphology is associated with trunk stability and differs between symptomatic and asymptomatic skiers. Study Design: Cohort study. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Methods: A total of 85 youth skiers (28 females, mean age, 14.7 ± 0.7 years; 57 males, mean age, 14.9 ± 0.5 years) underwent anthropometric assessments, an estimation of biological maturation, a magnetic resonance imaging- and ultrasound-based examination of LMF morphology, and a biomechanical quantification of deadbug bridging stabilization performance. Athletes were categorized as symptomatic if they had registered at least 1 significant overuse-related back complaint episode in the 12 months before the main examination. Results: Male skiers showed a greater LMF size (ie, anatomical cross-sectional area [ACSA]) than female skiers, except for vertebral body L5, where no difference was found (8.8 ± 1.8 cm2 vs 8.3 ± 1.4 cm2, P = 0.18). Conversely, female skiers displayed longer fascicles than male skiers (5.8 ± 0.8 cm vs 5.4 ± 0.8 cm, P = 0.03). Skiers aged under 16 years (U16) skiers had greater values for LMF size and fascicle length than U15 skiers. Maturity offset was associated with L5 LMF size ( R2 = 0.060, P = 0.01), fascicle length ( R2 = 0.038, P = 0.04), and muscle thickness ( R2 = 0.064, P = 0.02). L5 LMF size was associated with trunk stability ( R2 = 0.068, P = 0.01). Asymptomatic skiers showed on average a 12.8% greater value for L5 LMF size compared with symptomatic skiers ( P = 0.04). Conclusion: There are sex- and age-related differences in LMF morphology in youth competitive alpine skiers. Moreover, the ACSA at the level of the lumbar vertebral body L5 undergoes changes during biological maturation, shows a small, but significant association with trunk stability, and differs between symptomatic and asymptomatic skiers with back complaints. Clinical Relevance: The observed association of muscle structure (ie, L5 LMF ACSA) with functional aspects (ie, trunk stabilization capacity) and clinical representation (ie, overuse-related back complaints) further highlights the important role of the multifidus muscle for training and injury prevention in youth competitive alpine skiers around the growth spurt.

show abstract

“…Musculoskeletal complaints are common symptoms in general and athletic populations across the lifespan 1–3 . Among these, neck pain (NP) is considered one of the main causes of disability worldwide, with approximately 50% of the population will experience a clinically relevant NP episode throughout their lifetime 4 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors for disabling and non-disabling neck pain in a large cohort of adolescents

Sarto

Cattelan

et al. 2022

Am J Phys Med Rehabil

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Neck pain is extremely common and represents a substantial economic burden to our society. We aimed to investigate risk factors for nondisabling and disabling neck pain in a large cohort of Italian adolescents with a cross-sectional study. Design: Six thousand two hundred eighty-one students (14-19 yrs old) answered an online questionnaire, investigating the following: anthropometric data, lifestyle-related items, neck pain frequency and intensity, need for medical examination, and several risk factors. Students who had to give up social activities because of neck complaints constituted the disabling neck pain group. Results: Our findings revealed that sex, age, sports practice, hours of sleep, and family history were risk factors ( P < 0.001) for neck pain in our cohort. Moreover, disabling neck pain group experienced neck pain more frequently ( P < 0.001) and with higher levels of pain ( P < 0.001) compared with the nondisabling group. The number of hours of sleep was the only risk factor that showed a trend to differ comparing the disabling neck pain group with the nondisabling neck pain one ( P = 0.057). Conclusions: Different risk factors for neck pain were detected in a very large cohort of adolescents. This study may pave the way for future prospective studies and for the development of preventive strategies for neck pain in adolescents.

show abstract

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

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

Lower back pain in young climbers: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Lower back pain in young climbers: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Lumbar Multifidus Morphology in Youth Competitive Alpine Skiers and Associated Sex, Age, Biological Maturation, Trunk Stability, and Back Complaints

Risk factors for disabling and non-disabling neck pain in a large cohort of adolescents

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About