Lower extremity injury and return to sports of elite taekwondo athletes

Abstract

Objective We attempted to analyze the characteristics of lower-extremity injuries that occur during training based on the sex and weight class of elite taekwondo (TKD) athletes and the effect of pain scores on the return to sports periods (RTSP). Methods and Methods: We included 198 elite TKD athletes who participated in January–December 2023 and were trained in Korea. Injury incidence rates (IIR) were expressed as Poisson rates with 95% confidence intervals per 1,000 h of training. One-way analysis of variance was conducted to determine the pain score and RTSP according to sex, weight, and injury type. In addition, we performed simple linear regression to determine the effects of pain score on the RTSP.

Results The lower-extremities IIR was 2.45 injuries per 1000 training hours, including 0.77 contact and 1.68 non-contact injuries. The IIR was lower in male than in female athletes (p<0.001), the most common injuries occurred in the ankle (0.78) and knee(0.53). In addition, the ligament (0.99) and muscle (0.70) were the most common injury types. All athletes demonstrated significant differences in pain scores (p<0.001) and RTSP (p<0.001) based on the injury type. In addition, we observed a significant difference between the pain score (p<0.001) and RTSP (p=0.004) based on sex. For every 1-point increase in pain score, all athletes had a 1.43-day increase in RTSP.

Conclusion These results can be used as data to develop injury prevention programs for TKD athletes and to determine their RTSP.

Zusammenfassung

Ziel Ziel der vorliegende Studie war es, die Merkmale von Verletzungen der unteren Extremität, die bei Elite-Taekwondo (TKD)-Athleten im Rahmen des Trainings auftreten, stratifiziert nach Geschlecht und Gewichtsklasse zu analysieren, und den Einfluss von Schmerz-Scores auf die Zeit bis zur Rückkehr zum Sport („return to sports period“, RTSP) zu untersuchen.

Methode: Insgesamt wurden 198 in Korea ausgebildete Elite-TKD-Athleten in die Studie aufgenommen, die von Januar bis Dezember 2023 an der Untersuchung teilnahmen. Die Verletzungsinzidenz (IIR) wurde als Poisson-Rate mit 95 % Konfidenzintervall pro 1 000 Stunden Training angegeben. Im Rahmen einer einfaktoriellen Varianzanalyse erfolgte die Bestimmung der Schmerz-Scores und der Zeit bis zur Rückkehr zum Sport stratifiziert nach Geschlecht, Gewicht und Art der Verletzung. Außerdem führten wir eine einfache lineare Regressionsanalyse durch, um den Einfluss des Schmerz-Scores auf die RTSP zu ermitteln.

Ergebnisse Die Inzidenz von Verletzungen der unteren Extremität betrug 2,45 Verletzungen pro 1 000 Trainingsstunden (0,77 Kontakt- und 1,68 Nicht-Kontakt-Verletzungen). Die Verletzungsinzidenz war bei Athleten niedriger als bei Athletinnen (p<0,001). Am häufigsten betroffen waren das Sprunggelenk (0,78) und das Kniegelenk (0,53). Die häufigsten Verletzungsarten waren Verletzungen der Bänder (0,99) und der Muskeln (0,70). Bei allen Athletinnen und Athleten fanden sich signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Verletzungsarten hinsichtlich Schmerz-Score (p<0,001) und RTSP (p<0,001). Außerdem zeigte sich ein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen männlichen und weiblichen Athleten in Bezug auf den Schmerz-Score (p<0,001) und die RTSP (p=0,004). Ein Anstieg der Schmerz-Scores um 1 Punkt führte insgesamt bei den Athletinnen und Athleten zu einem Anstieg der RTSP um 1,43 Tage.

Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse der Studie können als Grundlage für die Entwicklung vonVerletzungspräventionsprogrammen für TKD-Athleten dienen und zur Ermittlung der Zeit bis zur Rückkehr zum Sport herangezogen werden.

Keywords

Taekwondo - sports injury - lower extremity - return to sports

Schlüsselwörter

Taekwondo - Sportverletzung - untere Extremität - Rückkehr zum Sport

Publication History

Received: 13 March 2024

Accepted after revision: 16 August 2024

Article published online:
09 September 2024

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