Sport specialization of female figure skaters: cumulative effects on low back injuries

ABSTRACT

Objective: 1) to determine the proportion of sport specialization among female figure skaters, 2) to compare proportion of low back injuries between specialized female figure skaters and non-specialized female figure skaters, and 3) to identify an independent risk factor(s) for low back injuries in female figure skaters.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was used. Young female figure skaters were asked questions related to sport specialization and any history of low back injuries. The primary outcome variables were status of sport specialization, weekly training hours, and low back injury. Descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square analyses, and binary logistic regressions were used.

Results: Responses from 132 female figure skaters (mean age: 16.3 ± 2.7 years, age range: 8–22 years) were analyzed. Sixty-two percent (82/132) of figure skaters were specialized. Specialized female figure skaters spent more time in training (11.3 ± 6.5 hours/week) than non-specialized skaters (7.6 ± 4.9 hours/week, p = 0.001). No statistical differences were found in proportion of low back injury history between specialized (25.6%) and non-specialized female figure skaters (24.0%, p = 0.836). Chronological age was also identified as an independent risk factor for low back injuries in female figure skaters (aOR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.00, 1.54, p = 0.048).

Conclusions: The majority of female figure skaters in this cohort were specialized. An association between chronological age and low back injuries, found in the current study, may be a result of cumulative effects of participating in figure skating over time.

KEYWORDS:

• Esthetic athletes
• females
• youth
• age
• overuse

Declaration of interest

I, William P. Meehan III, MD disclose the following conflicts: ABC-Clio publishing for the sale of the books Kids, Sports, and Concussion a Guide for Coaches and Parents, and Concussions; Springer International for the book Head and Neck Injuries in Young Athletes; Wolters Kluwer for working as an author for UpToDate; My research is funded, in part, by philanthropic support from the National Hockey League Alumni Association through the Corey C Griffin Pro-Am tournament and a grant from the National Football League. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. There is no conflict of interest from rest of the authors.

Financial disclosure

Dr. William P. Meehan III, MD receives royalties from 1) ABC-Clio publishing for the same of his books, Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A guide for coaches and parents, and Concussions; 2) Springer International for the book Head and Neck Injuries in Young Athletes, and 3) Wolters Kluwer for working as an author for UpToDate. No other authors have any financial disclosures or conflicts of interest. This study complied with the laws of the country of the authors' affiliations. All authors have no financial relationships relevant to this study to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. William P. Meehan III, MD research is funded, in part, by philanthropic support from the National Hockey League Alumni Association through the Corey C. Griffin Pro-Am Tournament and the National Hockey League.  The remaining authors do not have any funding sources to disclose.