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Int J Sports Med 2004; 25(3): 209-216
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-819935
Physiology & Biochemistry

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Active Living and Injury Risk

J. Parkkari1 , P. Kannus2 , A. Natri4 , I. Lapinleimu1 , M. Palvanen2 , M. Heiskanen3 , I. Vuori1 , M. Järvinen4
  • 1Tampere Research Center of Sports Medicine, UKK Institute, Tampere, Finland
  • 2Accident & Trauma Research Center, UKK Institute, Tampere, Finland
  • 3Statistics Finland, Helsinki, Finland
  • 4Department of Surgery, Tampere University Medical School, and University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
Further Information

Publication History

Accepted after revision: June 23, 2003

Publication Date:
15 April 2004 (online)

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to get reliable insight into injury risk in various commuting and lifestyle activities, as well as recreational and competitive sports. A cohort of 3 657 persons was randomly selected from the 15- to 74-year-old Finnish population. Ninety-two percent (n = 3 363) of the subjects accepted to participate the one-year follow-up, record all their physical activities that lasted 15 min or more, and register all acute and overuse injuries that occurred during these activities. To collect the information, the study subjects were interviewed by phone by the trained personnel of the Statistics Finland three times in four-month intervals. The individual injury risk per exposure time was relatively low, ranging from 0.19 to 1.5 per 1 000 hours of participation, in commuting and lifestyle activities including walking and cycling to work, gardening, home repair, hunting and fishing, and, in sports such as golf, dancing, swimming, walking, and rowing. The risk was clearly higher in squash, orienteering, and contact and team sports, such as judo, wrestling, karate, rinkball, floorball, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, volleyball, and Finnish baseball ranging from 6.6 to 18.3 per 1 000 hours of participation. However, the highest absolute number of injuries occurred in low-risk activities, such as gardening, walking, home-repair, and cycling, because they are performed so often. In conclusion, individual injury risk per exposure hours is relatively low in commuting and lifestyle activities compared to many recreational and competitive sports. However, at a population level, these low-to-moderate intensity activities are widely practised producing a rather high absolute number of injuries, and thus, preventive efforts are needed in these activities, too.

Key words

Epidemiology - exposure time - individual injury risk - leisure-time injury - sports injury - injury prevention

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J. Parkkari, MD, Ph D

Tampere Research Center of Sport Medicine · UKK Institute

P.O. Box 30 · 33501 Tampere · Finland

Phone: +358-3-282-9111

Fax: +358-3-282-9200

Email: jari.parkkari@uta.fi