ABSTRACT
Objectives
This study aims to assess the annual prevalence, associated factors, and characteristics of musculoskeletal disorders among Lebanese national-level athletes.
Methods
Lebanese athletes aged 18 and over and who competed in a top-level national championship during an entire athletics season were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through questionnaire assessing self-reported injury during the past year. Injury, dependent variable of the study, was defined as a musculoskeletal condition that made the athlete partially or completely abstains from training or competition for a 1-week minimum injury period.
Results
Among the 250 eligible athletes, 210 (84.0%) (25.5±6.7 years) completed the questionnaire. The 1-year retrospective injury prevalence was 51.9% (95% confidence interval, 45.1%-58.7%). Injured athletes reported 150 injuries: 128 (85.3%) affected the lower extremities, and 111 (74.0%) occurred during training. The most common type was muscle cramps/spasm (n=53; 35.3%); and overuse (n=121; 80.7%) was the predominant cause. Athletes who mainly practiced endurance disciplines (-p-value=0.042), who participated in international athletics championships (-p-value=0.047), and who were taking chronic medications (-p-value=0.049) had more injuries in the past year.
Conclusion
These findings may help inform potential injury prevention programs, which should target injuries affecting the lower extremities, and consider the factors associated with injury risk among Lebanese athletes.
Acknowledgments
The Medical Research Council of the Saint Joseph University of Beirut supported this work (grant number: FM295). We would like to thank Doctor Nazek SAADALLAH for her suggestions, comments, and insights. We would also like to thank the athletes who participated in this study.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Authors’ contributions
LEO, AEH, NEO contributed with conception and design
AEO, HAH contributed with acquisition of data
NEO, LEO contributed with analysis and interpretation of data
LEO, AEH involved in drafting the manuscript
NEO, LEO revised critically the manuscript for important intellectual content
All authors read and approved the final manuscript
Ethical approval and consent to participate
The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Saint Joseph University of Beirut. All participants gave informed consent to the work.