Journal List > Korean J Sports Med > v.32(2) > 1054533

Lee, Cho, and Park: Risk Factors of Past Injuries among of the Sports Climbing Athletes Who Participated in the National Sports Festival

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk factors regarding the injuries from sports climbing through an epidemiologic study. We performed a questionnaire survey on sports climbers who participated in the 93th Annual Sports Festival in Daegu, in October 2012. Sixty-nine climbers (male: 57, female: 12) responded to the survey. The t-test was used for comparisons of the incidence of injury, according to sex and career. The multiple linear regression analysis and the logistic regression analysis were used for the evaluation of risk factors that affected the occurrence of injury. Overall, 58 (84.06%) climbers had history of injury. The incidences of climbing related injuries were higher than the incidences of cross-training related injuries. However, there were no significant difference (p=0.680). Also, there was no significant difference between males and females (p=0.467), and professionals and amateurs (p=0.076). Fifty (72.46%) out of 69 climbers had history of traumatic injuries, and 40 (57.97%) climbers had history of overuse injuries. Significant risk factors for traumatic injuries are leading (odds ratio, OR=17.854), speed (OR=45.246), and bouldering (OR=13.595). Significant risk factors for overuse injuries are leading (OR=23.252) and bouldering (OR=41.260). Significant risk factors for middle phalanx injuries, which happens most frequently in climbing related injuries, are leading (OR=20.625) and bouldering (OR=25.756). For traumatic injuries, leading, speed, and bouldering are prone to cause injuries, and leading and bouldering are significant factors for overuse injuries. Therefore, it is considered that the systematic organized training can help reduce the incidence of injury.

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Fig. 1.
Injury prevalence.
kjsm-32-85f1.tif
Fig. 2.
Frequency of injured site associated with sports climbing.
kjsm-32-85f2.tif
Table 1.
Demographic data
Characteristic Male (n=57) Female (n=12)
Climber 57 (82.6%) 12 (17.4%)
Age (y) 31.4±9.7 32.9±8.3
Height (cm) 172.6±5.0 160.5±5.1
Weight (kg) 64.2±6.5 51.0±3.5
Body mass index (kg/m2) 21.5±1.7 19.8±1.3
Professional 21 (30.4%) 4 (5.8%)
Table 2.
Analysis of injury incidence according to gender difference
Injury incidence Male (n=57) Female (n=12) p-value
Overall 2.32±2.83 1.34±1.31 0.467
  (person-year)
Climbing 1.28±2.30 0.68±0.88 0.538
  (person-year)
Cross training 0.69±0.85 0.43±0.37 0.561
  (person-year)

Data were analyzed using paired t test.

Table 3.
Analysis of injury incidence according to profession
Injury incidence Professional (n=25) Amateur (n=44) p-value
Overall 2.42±2.16 1.89±2.77 0.076
  (person-year)
Climbing 1.25±1.59 1.09±2.38 0.349
  (person-year)
Cross training 1.16±1.21 0.79±0.86 0.042
  (person-year)

Data were analyzed using paired t test.

Table 4.
Analysis for risk factors associated with climbing related traumatic injuries
Risk factors p-value Odds ratio
Leading 0.003 17.854
Speed 0.002 45.246
Bouldering 0.001 13.595
Table 5.
Analysis for risk factors associated with climbing related overuse injuries
Risk factors p-value Odds ratio
Leading 0.006 23.252
Bouldering 0.001 41.260
Table 6.
Analysis for risk factors associated with cross-training
Risk factors p-value Beta
Gymnasium 0.002 0.418
Exercise
Weight training
Table 7.
Analysis for risk factors associated with middle finger injury
Risk factors p-value Odds ratio
Leading 0.007 20.625
Bouldering 0.003 25.756
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