Overuse Injuries in Professional Road Cyclists

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The below may be of interest:

Overuse Injuries in Professional

Road Cyclists

Clarsen,*y PT, MSc, Tron Krosshaug,y PhD, and Roald Bahr,y MD, PhD

AJSM PreView, published on September 16, 2010 as doi:10.1177/0363546510376816

Background: 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.

Purpose: This study was conducted to register overuse injuries among

professional road cyclists with special focus on anterior

knee and lower back pain.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Methods: We attended training camps of 7 professional teams and interviewed 109

of 116 cyclists (94%) 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.

Results: 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.

Few cyclists had missed competitions because

of pain in the lower back (6%) or anterior knee (9%).

Conclusion: Lower back pain and anterior knee pain were the most prevalent

overuse injuries, with knee injuries most likely to

cause time loss and lower back pain causing the highest rates of functional

impairment and medical attention.

Clinical Relevance: Future efforts to prevent overuse injuries in competitive

cyclists should focus on lower back pain and anterior

knee pain.

Keywords: bicycling; overuse injuries; epidemiology; cycling

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High prevalence of overuse injuries in professional road cyclistsMore 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

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Carruthers

Wakefield, UK