Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jun;46(7):505-14.
doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2012-091008. Epub 2012 Apr 20.

Determination of future prevention strategies in elite track and field: analysis of Daegu 2011 IAAF Championships injuries and illnesses surveillance

Juan-Manuel Alonso  1 , Pascal Edouard, Giuseppe Fischetto, Bob Adams, Frédéric Depiesse, Margo Mountjoy
Affiliations

Determination of future prevention strategies in elite track and field: analysis of Daegu 2011 IAAF Championships injuries and illnesses surveillance

Juan-Manuel Alonso et al. Br J Sports Med. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the incidence and characteristics of newly incurred injuries and illnesses during international Athletics Championships, by improving the medical surveillance coverage, in order to determine future prevention strategies.

Design: Prospective recording of newly occurred injuries and illnesses.

Setting: 13th International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Athletics 2011 in Daegu, Korea.

Participants: National team and Local Organising Committee physicians; and 1851 registered athletes.

Main outcome measures: Incidence and characteristics of newly incurred injuries and illnesses.

Results: 82% of athletes were covered by medical teams participating with a response rate of 94%. A total of 249 injuries were reported, representing an incidence of 134.5 injuries per 1000 registered athletes, and 119 (48%) resulted in time loss from sport. A total of 185 injuries affected the lower limb (74%). Hamstring strain was the main diagnosis and 67% resulted in absence from sport. Overuse (n=148; 59%) was the predominant cause. A total of 126 illnesses were reported, signifying an incidence of 68.1 per 1000 registered athletes. Upper respiratory tract infection was the most common reported diagnosis (18%), followed by exercise-induced dehydration (12%), and gastroenteritis/diarrhoea (10%). The highest incidences of injuries were found in combined events and middle and long-distance events, and of illness in race walking events.

Conclusion: During elite Athletics World Championships, 135 injuries, 60 time-loss injuries and 68 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes were reported. Higher risks of injuries were found in combined events and long-distance runs. Preventive interventions should focus on overuse injuries and hamstring strains, decreasing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, appropriate event scheduling and heat acclimatisation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

References

    1. Alonso JM, Junge A, Renstrom P, et al. Sports injuries surveillance during the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships. Clin J Sport Med 2009;19:26–32 - PubMed
    1. Alonso JM, Tscholl PM, Engebretsen L, et al. Occurrence of injuries and illnesses during the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Championships. Br J Sports Med 2010;44:1100–5 - PubMed
    1. Junge A, Engebretsen L, Mountjoy ML, et al. Sports injuries during the Summer Olympic Games 2008. Am J Sports Med 2009;37:2165–72 - PubMed
    1. Junge A, Engebretsen L, Alonso JM, et al. Injury surveillance in multi-sport events: the International Olympic Committee approach. Br J Sports Med 2008;42:413–21 - PubMed
    1. Engebretsen L, Steffen K, Alonso JM, et al. Sports injuries and illnesses during the Winter Olympic Games 2010. Br J Sports Med 2010;44:772–80 - PubMed

MeSH terms