Premium
A one‐season prospective study of injuries and illness in elite junior tennis
Author(s) -
Pluim B. M.,
Loeffen F. G. J.,
Clarsen B.,
Bahr R.,
Verhagen E. A. L. M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/sms.12471
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , workload , physical therapy , prospective cohort study , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , cohort study , poison control , emergency medicine , physics , pathology , computer science , optics , operating system
The objective of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of injury and illness among elite junior tennis players. A cohort of 73 players (11–14 years) in the 2012–2013 D utch national high‐performance program was followed for 32 weeks; all participants completed the study. The OSTRC Q uestionnaire on H ealth P roblems was used to record self‐reported injuries and illnesses and to record training and match exposure. Main outcome measures were average prevalence of overuse injury and illness and incidence density of acute injury. On average, players practiced 9.1 h/week ( SD 0.6; range 2.3–12.0) and had 2.2 h of match play ( SD 0.6; range 2.3–12.0). During the course of the study, 67 players reported a total of 187 health problems. The average weekly prevalence of all health problems was 21.3% (95% CI : 19.2–22.9), of which 12.1% (95% CI : 10.9–13.3) constituted overuse injuries and 5.8% (95% CI : 4.6–6.9) illnesses. The incidence of acute injuries was 1.2/1000 h of tennis play (95% CI : 0.7–1.7). The high occurrence of overuse injuries among elite junior tennis players suggests that an early focus on preventative measures is warranted, with a particular focus on the monitoring and management of workload.