Information about a piece of news titled High prevalence of overuse injuries in professional road cyclists
High prevalence of overuse injuries in professional road cyclists
Intoduction
More than half of the cyclists competing in races, like the ongoing World Championships, have reported lower back pain and anterior knee pain in the previous 12 months. These are the main results of an epidemiological study investigating overuse injuries in elite competitive cyclists, recently published in American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Little epidemiological information exists on overuse injuries in elite road cyclists.
Anecdotal reports indicate anterior knee pain and lower back pain may be common problems.
The purpose of this study by the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center was therefore to register overuse injuries among professional road cyclists with special focus on anterior knee and lower back pain.
Training camps of 7 professional teams were attended and 109 of 116 cyclists (94%) interviewed on overuse injuries they had experienced in the previous 12 months.
Injuries that required attention from medical personnel or involved time loss from cycling were registered. Additional information on anterior knee pain and lower back pain was collected using specific questionnaires.
A total of 94 injuries were registered; 45% were in the lower back and 23% in the knee.
Twenty-three time-loss injuries were registered; 57% in the knee, 22% in the lower back, and 13% in the lower leg. Fifty-eight percent of all cyclists had experienced lower back pain in the previous 12 months, and 41% of all cyclists had sought medical attention for it. Thirty-six percent had experienced anterior knee pain and 19% had sought medical attention for it.
Thus, more than half of all time-loss injuries were located at the knee, while lower back pain caused the highest rates of functional impairment and medical attention. Few cyclists had missed competitions because of pain in the lower back (6%) or anterior knee (9%).
Clinical relevance: Future efforts to prevent overuse injuries in competitive cyclists should focus on lower back pain and anterior knee pain. This might include adjustments of the racers´ positioning on the bike.
This investigation was carried out by PT and PhD student Ben Clarsen, Tron Krosshaug, and Roald Bahr.