Injury Epidemiology And Preparedness In Para Powerlifters At The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games: An Analysis Of 1410 Athlete-Days

Author

Kimberly Elizabeth Ona AyalaFollow

Date of Award

January 2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Medical Doctor (MD)

Department

Medicine

First Advisor

Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe the injury epidemiology of Para powerlifters during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (RPG).

METHODS: This cohort study was a sub-analysis of the WEB-IISS carried out by the IPC Medical Committee. The WEB-IISS survey was completed daily by the Chief Medical Officers of each National Paralympic Committee (NPC). Main outcome measures were injury incidence rate (IR; number of injuries per 1000 athlete-days) and injury incidence proportion (IP; number of injuries per 100 athletes). After the competition, a survey assessed the available clinical resources of each NPC.

RESULTS: 180 athletes participated in the time period; injuries for 141 athletes with their own medical support were recorded during the 10-day period, accounting for 1410 athlete competition-days of exposure. Overall IR was 15.6/1000 athlete days (95% CI; 9.61 – 21.59). Most injuries were from chronic overuse (63.6%). The most commonly injured anatomical region was the shoulder (45.5%; IR=7.09). There were no significant differences in injury patterns between male and female powerlifters [IRR=0.78 (95% CI; 0.36 – 1.69), p-value = 0.6993]. The oldest age group (35-75) had the highest injury incidence rate [IR=21.8 (95% CI; 12.63 – 30.96). There was no significant difference in IP among lighter compared with heavier athletes. Of 34 NPCs, the majority of federations (91.6% – 95.8%) felt their powerlifters have access to sports medicine doctors or sports-medicine-trained clinicians who could implement and/or direct injury prevention protocols.

CONCLUSIONS: The information obtained in this study supports the need for injury prevention protocol development in this high-risk Para sport.

Comments

This thesis is restricted to Yale network users only. This thesis is permanently embargoed from public release.

Recommended Citation

Ona Ayala, Kimberly Elizabeth, "Injury Epidemiology And Preparedness In Para Powerlifters At The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games: An Analysis Of 1410 Athlete-Days" (2020). Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library. 3942.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl/3942