Abstract
Purpose of the study:
To describe the incidence, nature, and risk factors associated with upper limb injuries in athletes participating in the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Materials and methods:
This study formed a component of the large prospective cohort study conducted over the 14-day period of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, coordinated through the IPC Medical Committee. Daily injury data were collected by team physicians in 3 329 athletes (46 606 athlete days) participating in the study, and 258 upper limb injuries were recorded. The incidence proportion (IP=number of injuries per 100 athletes), and incidence (number of injuries per 1000 athlete days) of upper limb injuries was calculated.
Results:
The overall IP (with 95% CI) of upper limb injuries was 7,2 (6,4–8,1), with an incidence of 5,2 (4,6–5,8).
Shoulder injuries were encountered most frequently with an overall incidence of 2,2 (1,85–2,7) and caused the greatest amount of time lost from sport. The incidence of shoulder injuries by sport was 8,8 (5,4–13,5) in powerlifting, 5,0 (2,1–9,8) in Judo, 2,8 (1,2–5,6) in wheelchair basketball, and 2,7 (1,6–4,2) in swimming.
The incidence of injuries of the wrist and hand was 3,9 (1,4–8,5) in goal ball, 3,2 (1,5–6,0) in wheelchair basketball, and 2,8 (1,3–5,4) in table tennis.
The majority of upper limb injuries occurred in athletes with spinal cord injuries (38,3%) and athletes with amputation or limb deficiency (28,4%).
Rotator cuff impingement syndrome and chronic rotator cuff injury were the most frequent specific diagnoses in the upper limb injuries.
Conclusion:
To date, this is the largest study evaluating upper limb injuries at the Paralympic Games. The shoulder is the anatomical region most frequently injured and caused the greatest time lost from sport. Type of sport, older age group, and athlete disability category were identified as risk factors for upper limb injuries.
