Article
Acute injuries and overuse syndromes in sport climbing and bouldering in Austria
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Authors
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Karin Pieber
- Medical University Vienna, General Hospital of Vienna, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vienna, Austria
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Lukas Angelmaier
- Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Robert Csapo
- Medical University Vienna, General Hospital of Vienna, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vienna, Austria
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Malvina Herceg
- Medical University Vienna, General Hospital of Vienna, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vienna, Austria
| Published: | October 24, 2011 |
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Outline
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Objective: In the last 20-30 years sport climbing and bouldering have become trend sports. The high impact and strain on shoulder girdle, hands and fingers is a known fact in these sports. Acute injuries and overuse syndromes affect mostly ligaments, tendons and joint capsules. Known disease patterns are the climber’s elbow or the climber’s finger. The incidence of the different injuries was evaluated in some studies in Germany and England. Injuries in rock climbing are common and more than half of these injuries involve the wrist and hand. Acute injuries mostly occur because of a fall. Therefore the ankle is the most common injury site and fractures, contusions, sprains or strains are the most common injury types.
The aim of the recent study was to evaluate acute injuries and overuse syndromes in sport climbing and bouldering in Austria.
Material/Methods: The evaluation was conducted by the use of a self-administered questionnaire between summer 2009 and summer 2010. Climbers all over Austria were asked to participate in this study by an advertisement on http://www.bergsteigen.at/, which is an important gateway for climbers in Austria. Furthermore the questionnaire was available on the homepages from the national federations „Österreichischer Alpenverein“ and „Naturfreunde Österreich“ and in different climbing halls. Climbers with more than 6 months climbing experience were included.
The questionnaire evaluated in a first part demographic and anthropometric data like age, sex, body mass index, type of climbing (sport climbing, bouldering, out- or indoor climbing) and climbing experience. In the second part injuries and overuse syndromes were recorded (type of injury and localisation).
Results: 193 climbers (133 male and 60 female) participated in the study. Subjects were between 18 and 57 (mean±SD: 30±8) years with a body mass index of 21.6±2 and a climbing experience of 9.3±7.7 (1-35) years. On average 49.9% performed sport climbing outdoor, 29.3% sport climbing indoor, 21.0% bouldering outdoor and 28.6% bouldering indoor. 136 of the 193 participants (70.8%) reported at least one injury or overuse syndrome. Overall 431 injuries and overuse syndromes were recorded (67.1% injuries, 30.6% overuse syndromes and 2.3% not to classify). The predominance of finger injuries (34.6%) was followed by ankle (13%), shoulder (12.3%) and elbow (11.8%). The most frequent complaints were located at ligaments and tendons (44.1%) followed by joints (20%) and skin (18.3%).
Conclusion: The injuries and overuse syndromes in climbing in Austria are in line with previously published results from studies in Germany and England. Further studies dealing with possible recommendations concerning prevention and treatment of the mentioned injuries and overuse syndromes are already planned.
