Epidemiology, risk factors and causes of injury

Question 1

define the term sports injury

Answer 1

any physical complaint caused by practicing or competing in a sport that causes:

reduction in future training or competition tie
an athlete to seek medical attention

Question 2

what is the advantage of doing a prospective epidemiological study rather than a retrospective one?

Answer 2

get a more accurate estimate of exposure time
get an accurate diagnosis of the injury
because avoids reliance on memory, and therefore reduces recall bias

Question 3

describe the sequence of injury prevention, which uses findings from epidemiological studies

Answer 3

1) epidemiological studies are used to establish the extent of the problem of a certain injury
2) then identify risk factors, aeitology and mechanism of the injury
3) introduce a preventative measure (based on findings of 2)
4) repeat epidemiological study to see if measure made any difference

Question 4

what a the time scales used to classify injuries as mild, moderate and severe

Answer 4

mild = 0-7 days

moderate = 8-21 days

severe = 21 days+

Question 5

give some intrinsic risk factors for injury development

Answer 5

anatomy 
physiology 
biomechanics 
technique 
age 
sex 
level of conditioning

Question 6

give some extrinsic risk factors for sports injury development

Answer 6

surface
opponent
equipment
playing conditions

Question 7

explain the difference between the aetiology and the mechanism of an injury

Answer 7

aetiology is the event which causes the injury to occur

mechanism is a description of the process which caused the injury e.g excessive inversion of the ankle

Question 8

explain the model for injury causation

Answer 8

the internal risk factors of that athlete make them predisposed to injury development

if they are then exposed to external risk factors they become a susceptible athlete

if an inciting event then occurs that person will suffer an injury

Question 9

explain the difference between a mechanism of injury and the diagnosis of an injury

Answer 9

mechanism is the process which caused the injury

diagnosis is a description of the outcome following the mechanism

e.g inversion = mechanism
ligament tear = diagnosis