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. 2025 May-Jun;17(3):594-602.
doi: 10.1177/19417381241255329. Epub 2024 Jun 3.

Diving Into the Health Problems of Competitive Divers: A Systematic Review of Injuries and Illnesses in Pre-elite and Elite Diving Athletes

Benjamin M Currie  1   2   3 , Michael K Drew  1   4 , Michael Hetherington  2 , Gordon Waddington  1   5 , Nicholas A T Brown  1 , Liam A Toohey  1   4
Affiliations

Diving Into the Health Problems of Competitive Divers: A Systematic Review of Injuries and Illnesses in Pre-elite and Elite Diving Athletes

Benjamin M Currie et al. Sports Health. 2025 May-Jun.

Abstract

Context: The Olympic sport of diving involves the competitive disciplines of 3 m springboard and 10 m platform. Although it is generally accepted that lumbar spine injuries are common in diving athletes, the existing literature of health problems in diving athletes remains scarce.

Objective: To identify the incidence, prevalence, and type of health problems that occur in competitive diving athletes.

Data sources: Medline, EMBASE, SportsDiscus, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar.

Study selection: Studies written in English investigating elite or pre-elite competitive diving (springboard, platform) injuries and/or illnesses were eligible. Two independent reviewers screened for inclusion by title, abstract, and full text in accordance with the eligibility criteria.

Study design: Systematic review.

Level of evidence: Level 4.

Data extraction: Data extraction was completed by 1 author using a structured form. A second author then independently reviewed and verified the extracted data, any discrepancies were resolved through consensus.

Results: The search identified 2554 potential articles, with 28 studies meeting eligibility criteria. The surveillance setting of most studies was restricted to competition-based events, with the reported injury incidence proportion ranging from 2.1% to 22.2%. The reported injury incidence rate ranged from 1.9 to 15.5 per 1000 athlete-exposures. Injuries to the shoulder, lower back/lumbar spine, trunk, and wrist/hand were reported most frequently. The prevalence of low back pain was reported as high as 89% (lifetime), 43.1% (period), and 37.3% (point). The illness incidence proportion ranged from 0.0% to 22.2%, with respiratory and gastrointestinal illness reported most frequently.

Conclusion: Up to 1 in 5 diving athletes sustain an injury and/or illness during periods of competition. A reporting bias was observed, with most cohort studies limiting surveillance to short competition-based periods only. This limits the current understanding of the health problems experienced by diving athletes to competition periods only and requires expansion to whole-of-year surveillance.

Keywords: aquatic sport; athletic injuries; epidemiology; illness; injury; surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest in the development and publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart, PRISMA, preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
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