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Acute and chronic injuries among senior international rowers: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the study was to define the types of musculoskeletal injuries present in senior international rowers. According to the literature, no such study has been performed in this group.

Methods

Injury data were obtained from a total of 634 rowers (33 % female, 67 % male) who completed a 12-month retrospective questionnaire on injury incidence while participating in the Senior World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany, in 2007.

Results

The mean injury rate per one year was 0.92 injuries per rower (1.75 injuries per 1,000 training sessions per rower). The vast majority of self-reported injuries were chronic injuries (acute vs chronic ratio was 1:2.63), and the majority of reported injuries did not result in loss of time from training or competition. Of all acute injuries, 58.1 % were sustained during rowing-specific training, with 20.6 % injuries sustained in the gym and 21.3 % during cross-training. The most common site of injury was the low back followed by the knee and the chest/thoracic spine. Senior open weight rowers who sustained chronic injuries achieved significantly better final ranking at the 2007 Senior World Rowing Championships compared to the same group of rowers who did not sustain any injury.

Conclusion

Senior international rowers participating in World Rowing Championships sustained predominantly chronic (overuse) injuries during the rowing season studied. Those were mainly low severity injuries, with the low back being the most frequently injured site. This study may will help in prevention and early diagnosis of eventual injuries in top-level rowers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their appreciation to the Executive Board of FISA and the Organizing Committee of the 2007 Senior World Rowing Championships in Munich 2007 for their permission to set up this study and for their full support and collaboration. Many thanks to the Croatian Rowing Federation for provision of financial and logistic support. We are grateful to medical and rowing experts who offered their help for translation of the questionnaires. We are also grateful for the athletes, coaches, medical staff members, and team managers for their participation in this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding statement

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital Center Zagreb, School of Medicine, Zagreb University, Salata 7, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Tomislav Smoljanovic, Ivan Bohacek & Ivan Bojanic

  2. Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, Hospital for Special Surgery, Weill Medical College of Cornell University New York, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, USA

    Jo Ann Hannafin

  3. Medical Corps, Forces Policy, Federal Ministry of Defense, Stauffenbergstr. 18, 10785, Berlin, Germany

    Oliver Terborg

  4. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Put iza Nove Bolnice 10c, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Darko Hren

  5. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Zagreb University, Salata 7, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Marko Pecina

Authors
  1. Tomislav Smoljanovic
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  2. Ivan Bohacek
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  3. Jo Ann Hannafin
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  4. Oliver Terborg
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  5. Darko Hren
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  6. Marko Pecina
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  7. Ivan Bojanic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomislav Smoljanovic.

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Smoljanovic, T., Bohacek, I., Hannafin, J.A. et al. Acute and chronic injuries among senior international rowers: a cross-sectional study. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 39, 1623–1630 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-014-2665-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-014-2665-7

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