Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries, risk factors and preventive possibilities

Abstract

Our knowledge of sports-related injuries in para-sport is limited and there are no data on how Paralympic athletes themselves perceive an injury. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries, risk factors and preventive possibilities. Eighteen Swedish Paralympic athletes with vision impairment, intellectual impairment, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele, dysplasia and neuromuscular disorder, representing 10 different para-sports, were interviewed. The qualitative phenomenographic method was used to interpret the data. The analysis revealed nine categories of perceptions of experiences. The athletes perceived that their impairments were involved in the cause and consequential chains associated with a sports-related injury. Other categories that denoted and described these injuries were: sport overuse, risk behaviour, functional limitations, psychological stressors, the normalised pain, health hazards, individual possibilities to prevent sports-related injuries and unequal prerequisites. This qualitative study revealed that Paralympic athletes’ perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries are complex and multifactorial, and in several ways differ from able-bodied athletes. This needs to be considered in the sports health and safety work within the Paralympic Movement as well as in the design of future injury surveillance systems and preventive programmes.

Keywords:

• Qualitative research
• athletic injuries
• sports for persons with disabilities
• sports medicine
• primary prevention

Acknowledgements

We thank all the athletes for allowing us to interview them and sharing their perceptions of their experiences. The practical support from Parasport Sweden and the Swedish Paralympic Committee is also acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

JAN LEXELL http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5294-3332

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by research grants from the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports.