Injuries in Elite British Paralympic Cyclists: A Longitudinal Investigation

Abstract

The purpose of the Investigation was to determine the nature and incidence of injuries in elite British Paralympic cyclists. The sample consisted of 39 para-cyclists (mean age: 33.7 ± 7.60 years; mean elite cycling experience: 8.81 ± 5.32 years). Time loss injury data, for B, C, H and T classes, were collected over a four-year period which included: class, impairment, age, event group (sprint or endurance), site of injury, tissue, pathology, diagnosis, onset (acute or chronic), when the injury occurred (training or competition), the type of training or competition session, the mechanism of the injury, whether the injury was new or reoccurring, and the modified days. Data were analysed using a custom written MATLAB software (Version 8) script. Ninety-three injuries were recorded over the data collection period with C-class, para-endurance athletes, accounting for the highest incidence of injuries in the squad. The mechanism for injury occurrence was highest in gym-based activities making up 25.92% of all injuries. Within this category, trap bar deadlift was the most frequent gym-based activity for injury occurrence. The sacroiliac joint sustained the most injuries of any body part and had the highest incidence of index and re-injuries; the mechanism was largely influenced by non-cycling gym-based activities. Endurance athletes are most prone to injuries specifically, at the lower back and sacroiliac joint. While the inciting event has been identified as the load bearing exercises in the gym this is most likely due to other factors such as sub-optimal program design, spikes in acute workload, and technical incompetencies.