Sports injuries and illnesses during the second Asian Beach Games
- 1Dunedin School of Medicine, Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand
- 2Emergency Department, Khoula Hospital, Muscat, Oman
- 3Emergency Department, Armed Forces Hospital, Muscat, Oman
- Correspondence to Sultan Al-Shaqsi, Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; sultan.al-shaqsi{at}otago.ac.nz
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Contributors SA study design, analysis and manuscript writing. AhA study design and manuscript writing. AmA study design and manuscript writing. SA study supervision.
- Received 10 December 2011
- Accepted 1 April 2012
- Published Online First 18 May 2012
Abstract
Background Prevention of sport injuries and illnesses is a focus for epidemiological surveillance.
Objectives To record and analyse all sports injuries and illnesses registered during the second Asian Beach Games.
Design A descriptive epidemiological study using the International Olympic Committee Surveillance system to register injuries and illnesses during the second Asian Beach Games.
Methods The second Asian Beach Games hosted 1132 athletes from 43 countries competing in 14 beach sports. All National Olympic Committees' physicians of the participating teams were invited to report all injuries and illnesses. In addition, medical officers at the different Olympic venues and the main Olympic village reported injuries and illnesses treated at the clinics on a daily basis.
Results A total of 177 injuries were reported equating to an incidence rate of 156.4 per 1000 registered athletes. Tent pegging recorded the highest incidence of injuries with 357 per 1000 registered athletes. The most prevalent injuries were in the foot/toe with 14.1% of all reported injuries. The majority of injuries were incurred during competition (75.4%). In addition, the most common mechanism of injury was contact with another athlete (n=42, 23.7%) and combined sudden and gradual overuse contributed to 30% of the total injury burden. Furthermore, 118 illnesses were reported resulting in an incidence rate of 104.2 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes. The most affected system was the respiratory tract (39.1%) with infection being the most common cause (n=33, 38.0%). The incidence of injury and illness differed significantly among the 14 sports.
Conclusion The data indicate that the risk of injury from beach games is sport dependant. This means that any preventive measures have to be tailored for each discipline. Furthermore, the study showed that respiratory infections are the commonest illness in beach sports and therefore, event organisers should focus improving public health measures and hygiene awareness.
Footnotes
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Funding International Olympic Committee.
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Competing interests None.
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Ethics approval Sultan Qaboos University Ethics Committee.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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Data sharing statement All data collected and presented in this study are available to any who may be interested and should contact the lead author.
