EPIDEMIOLOGY OF WRIST PAIN IN AUSTRALIAN GYMNASTS

Authors

  • Beverley Trevithick School of Health and Sports Science, Faculty of Science, Health, Education, and Engineering
  • Max Stuelcken School of Health and Sports Science, Faculty of Science, Health, Education, and Engineering
  • Rebecca Mellifont School of Health and Sports Science, Faculty of Science, Health, Education, and Engineering
  • Mark Sayers University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52165/sgj.10.2.179-188

Keywords:

adolescence gymnast, distal radial growth plate, ground reaction forces, wrist brace, apparatus

Abstract

Wrist pain in adolescent gymnasts is generally considered a ‘normal’ consequence of the sport. If pain is ignored it may lead to an injury of the distal radial growth plate and subsequent long term wrist dysfunction. There is a lack of epidemiology research on the prevalence of wrist pain in adolescent gymnasts with previous research documenting wrist injuries as part of general injury statistics. We aimed to investigate the life time and point prevalence of wrist pain in Australian gymnasts. A survey was designed to collect data from 10-18 year gymnasts who participated in gymnastics. Data was collected on: (i) historical experience of wrist pain (ii) current wrist pain; (iii) the influence of apparatus on wrist pain; and (iv) treatment modalities utilised. Results found there was a high life time (92.6%) and point prevalence (70.6%) of wrist pain in adolescent gymnasts. When grouped by age there was no significant difference in life time or point prevalence between genders. When grouped by training 1-10 hours per week, females had significantly higher life time prevalence (p = 0.013) than males. When grouped by training 11-25 hours per week males showed a significantly  higher life time prevalence (p = 0.005) and point prevalence (p = 0.004). Wrist braces were reported as the primary method of management for wrist pain. This study promotes research into injury prevention strategies aimed at decreasing the prevalence of wrist pain and the consequence of wrist injury in adolescent gymnasts.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Australia, G. (2016). Annual report. from Gymnastics Australia.

Bak, K., Kalms, S., Olesen, S., & Jorgensen, U. (1994). Epidemiology of injuries in gymnastics. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 4, 148-154.

Baumann, U., Schulz, R., Reisinger, W., Heinecke, A., Schemeling, A., & Schmidt, S. (2009). Reference study on the time frame for ossification of the distal radius and ulna epiphyses on the hand radiograph. Forensic Science International, 191(1), 15-18.

Bradshaw, E., & Hume, P. (2012). Biomechanical approaches to identify and qauntify injury mechanisms and risk factors in women's artistic gymnastics. Sports Biomechanics, 11(3), 324-341.

Brueggerman, G. (2010). Neuromechanical load of biological tissue and injury in gymnastics. Paper presented at the XXVIII International Symposium of Biomechanics in Sports, Marquette, MI, USA.

Caine, D., Di Fiori, J., & Maffulli, N. (2006). Physeal injuries in children's and youth sports: reasons for concern? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40, 749-760.

Caine, D., & Harringe, M. (2013). Epidemiology in gymnastics. In D. R. Caine, K; Lim, L (Ed.), Gymnastics (Vol. 1). Chichester UK: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Caine, D., Roy, S., Singer, K., & Broekhoff, J. (1992). Stress changes of the distal radius growth plate. A radiographic survey and review of the literature. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 20(3).

De Smet, L., Claessens, A., Lefevre, J., & Beunen, G. (1994). Gymnast Wrist: An epidemiology survey of ulna wrist wariance and stress changes of the radial physis in elite female gymnasts. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 22(6).

Di Fiori, J. (2006). Overuse injury and the young athlete: the case of the chronic wrist pain in the gymnast. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 5, 165-167.

Di Fiori, J., Puffer, J., Aish, B., & Dorey, F. (2002). Wrist pain in young gymnasts: frequency and effects upon training over 1 year. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 12(6), 348-353.

Dixon, M., & Fricker, P. (1993). Injuries to elite gymnasts over 10 years. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 25(12), 1322-1329.

Dobrescu, T., & Zaharia, A. (2010). Study of the frequency of wrist pain cases in junior female gymnasts. Physical Education and Sport. Science, Movement and Health. Romania(2 supplement), 474-476.

Dobyns, J., & Gabel, G. (1990). Gymnast's wrist. Hand Clinics, 6(3), 493-505.

Dwek, J. R., Cordoso, F., & Chung, C. (2009). MR imaging of overuse injuries in the skeletally immature gymnast: a spectrum of soft -tissue and osseus lesions in the hand and wrist. Pediatric Radiology, 39, 1301-1316.

Frush, T., & Lindenfield, T. (2009). Peri-epiphyseal and overuse injuries in adolescent children. Sports Health: A multidisciplinary approach, 1(3), 201-2011.

Grant- Ford, M., Sitler, M., Kozin, S., Barbe, M., & Barr, A. (2003). Effect of propholactic brace on wrist and ulnocarpal joint biomechanics in a cadaveric model. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 31(5).

Guerra, M., Estelles, J., Abdouni, Y., Falochio, D., Rosa, J., & Catani, L. (2016). Frequency of wrist growth plate injury in young gymnasts at a training center. Acta Orthopaedica Brazil, 24(4), 204-207.

Gustavsson, A., Thorsen, K., & Nordstrom, P. (2003). A 3 year longitudinal study on the effect of physical activity on the acrual of bone mineral density in healthy adolescent males. Cacified Tissue International, 73, 108-114.

Harringe, M., Lindblad, S., & Werner, S. (2004). Do team gymmnasts compete in spite of symptoms form an injury? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(4), 398-401.

Hsu, P., & Light, T. (2006). Disorders of the immature carpus. Hand Clinics, 22(4), 447-463.

Kerr, Z., Hayden, R., Barr, M., Klossner, D., & Dompier, T. (2015). Epidemiology of National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Gymnastics Injuries. Journal of Athletic Training, 50(8), 870-878.

Kolt, G., & Kirkby, R. (1995). Epidemiology of injury in Australian female gymnasts. Sports Medicine Training and Rehabilitation, 6, 223-231.

Kolt, G., & Kirkby, R. (1999). Epidemiology of injury in elite and subelite female gymnasts; a comparison of retrospective and prospective findings. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 33 issue 5, 312-318.

Kox, L., Kuijer, P., Kerkhoffs, G., Maas, M., & Frings-Dressen, M. (2015). Prevalence, incidence of risk factors for overuse injuries of the wrist in young athletes: a systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49, 1189-1196.

Malina, R., Baxter-Jones, A., Armstrong, N., Beunen, G., Caine, D., Daly, R., . . . Russell, K. (2013). Role of intensive training in the growth and maturation of artistic gymnasts. Journal of Sports Medicine, 43(9), 783-802.

Markolf, K., Shapiro, M., Mandelbaum, B., & Teurlings, L. (1990). Wrist loading patterns during pommel horse exercises. Journal of Biomechanics, 23(10), 1001-1011.

Morgan, R. (2015). Roy Morgan Young Australians Survey, July 2014 – June 2015 (n=2,622). Base: Australian children aged six to 13 years. Australia: Roy Morgan surveys.

Russell, K., Hagel, B., & Francescutti, L. H. (2007). The Effect of Wrist Guards on Wrist and Arm Injuries Among Snowboarders: A Systematic Review. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 17(2), 145-150. doi:10.1097/JSM.0b013e31803f901b

Sands, A., Caine, D., & Borm, J. (2003). Conclusions. In J. Borms, Hebbelinck, M, Hills, A (Ed.), Medicine and Sports Science. Scientific aspects of womens gymnastics. (Vol. 45). Basel Switzerland: Karger.

Snook, G. (1979). Injuries in womens gymnastics. A 5 year study. American journal of sports Medicine, 7(4), 242-244.

Webb, B., & Rettig, L. (2008). Gymnastic wrist injuries. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 7(5), 289-295.

Zanker, C., Osborne, C., Cooke, C., Oldroyd, B., & Truscott, J. (2004). Bone density, body composition and menstrual history of sedentary female former gymnasts age 20-32 years. Osteoporosis International, 15, 145-154.

Zetaruk, M. (2000). The young gymnast. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 19(4), 757-780.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Trevithick, B., Stuelcken, M., Mellifont, R., & Sayers, M. (2018). EPIDEMIOLOGY OF WRIST PAIN IN AUSTRALIAN GYMNASTS. Science of Gymnastics Journal, 10(2), 179-188. https://doi.org/10.52165/sgj.10.2.179-188