Abstract:
Sport injury epidemiology has received increased recognition
as a field of sport medicine research that can
improve the health and safety of athletes. Injuries among
Paralympic powerlifters have not previously been systematically
studied. The purpose of this prospective
cohort study was to characterize injuries among
Paralympic powerlifters. Athletes competing in the sport
of powerlifting were followed over the 7-day competition
period of the 2012 London Paralympic Games. The main
outcome measurements were injury incidence rate (IR;
number of injuries per 1000 athlete-days) and injury incidence
proportion (IP; injuries per 100 athletes). A total of
38 injuries among 163 powerlifters were documented.
The overall IR was 33.3 injuries/1000 athlete-days (95%
CI 24.0–42.6) and the overall IP was 23.3 injuries per 100
athletes (95% CI 16.8–29.8). The majority of injuries
were chronic overuse injuries (61%). The most commonly
injured anatomical region was the shoulder/clavicle (32%
of all injuries), followed by the chest (13%) and elbow
(13%). The information obtained in this study opens the
door for future study into the mechanisms and details of
injuries into powerlifters with physical impairments.
