Injury Incidence Rates and Profiles in Elite Taekwondo during Competition and Training.

This study aimed to investigate exposure adjusted injury incidence rates and profiles associated with training and competition in an elite taekwondo athlete population. 82 athletes were investigated for injuries over a period of 5 years. Individual fight time exposure for training and competition was recorded. The type and location of the injuries were classified and exposure-adjusted injury incidence rates (IIR) were calculated per 1000 h for training and competition. 66 athletes with a mean age of 19.3±4.2 years and 172 injuries were included in the final data assessment. The exposure adjusted IIR was significantly higher during competition (p<0.001) with a rate ratio of 6.33 (95% CI 4.58-8.69). Ankle and foot region as well as hand and wrist were most affected with significant higher IIR in competition (p<0.001). Joint injuries, fractures, and bruising occurred the most. Fractures occurred mainly to the hand and wrist region. Future investigations should focus on exposure adjusted injury data including analyses of the detailed mechanism leading to especially severe injuries to improve specific injury prevention in competition and promote evolution of protective gear.

Injury rates in martial arts athletes and predictive risk factors for lower limb injuries.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies attempted to identify possible risk factors for acute and overuse injuries in several sports disciplines such as running, gymnastics or team sports. Given the lack of scientific works focused on risk factors for lower limb injuries in martial arts, the present study was aimed to investigate foot anatomy, anthropometric measures, and other background information as possible risk factors of injury in barefoot athletes practicing judo, karate, kung fu, Thai boxing, or aikido. In addition, the injury rates were evaluated in relation with the different martial art styles. METHODS: One group of 130 martial artists was retrospectively evaluated. Data of three morphological variables of the foot were collected: navicular height (NH), navicular drop (ND), and the rear foot (RF). In addition, each participant filled an interview questionnaire providing the following information: age, sex, body weight, height, Body Mass Index, hours of training per week, the kind of injury occurred to the lower limbs in the preceding year. RESULTS: Of 130 subjects, 70 (53.8%) did not sustain injuries, 35 (27.0%) suffered an acute injury and the remaining 25 (19.2%) reported an overuse injury. No significant differences were observed in the injury rates in relation to style and kind of martial art. Age, training volume and BMI were found as significant predictors of injury, while NH, ND, and RF were not able to predict acute or overuse injury at lower limbs. CONCLUSIONS: The injury rates were similar in karate, judo, kung fu, aikido, and Thai boxing. The foot morphology variables were not related with the presence or absence of acute and overuse injuries. Conversely, older and heavier martial artists, performing more hours of barefoot training, are at higher risk of acute and overuse injury. Athletic trainers should strongly take into account the present information in order to develop more accurate and specific injury prevention programs for martial artists.

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with foot and ankle injuries.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as one of the most common causes of fragility fractures and poor fracture healing. Although rates of vitamin D deficiency have been delineated in various orthopaedic populations, little is known about the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with foot and ankle disorders. The goal of this study was to identify the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with a low energy fracture of the foot or ankle. METHODS: Over a 6-month period, a serum 25-OH vitamin D level was obtained from consecutive patients with a low energy ankle fracture, fifth metatarsal base fracture, or stress fracture of the foot or ankle. For comparative purposes, vitamin D levels in patients with an ankle sprain and no fracture were also examined. RESULTS: The study cohort included 75 patients, of which 21 had an ankle fracture, 23 had a fifth metatarsal base fracture, and 31 had a stress fracture. The mean age was 52 (range, 16-80) years. Thirty-five of the fracture patients (47%) had an insufficient vitamin D level (below the recommended level of 30 ng/mL), and 10 of the patients (13%) had a level that was deficient (< 20 ng/mL). Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in those with a fracture than in those with an ankle sprain (P = .02). In the fracture cohort, the factors significantly associated with vitamin D insufficiency in the multivariate analysis were smoking (P = .03), obesity (P = .003), and other medical risk factors for vitamin D deficiency (P = .03). CONCLUSION: Hypovitaminosis D was common among patients with a foot or ankle injury seen at our institution. Patients with a low energy fracture of the foot or ankle were at particular risk for low vitamin D, especially if they smoked, were obese, or had other medical risk factors. Given that supplementation with vitamin D (± calcium) has been shown to reduce the risk of fragility fractures and improve fracture healing, monitoring of 25-OH vitamin D and supplementation should be considered in patients with fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, prospective case control.

The lived experience of a foot burn injury from the perspective of seven Jordanians with diabetes: a hermeneutic phenomenological study.

Poor vision and poor pain sensation expose sufferers of diabetes to foot burn injuries. A phenomenological approach was used to illuminate the lived experience of those with diabetes who sustained foot burn injuries. Face-to-face unstructured interviews were conducted with seven patients recruited from health care facilities throughout Jordan. The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim into Arabic, checked for accuracy and then analysed using thematic analysis. Our study highlights that household appliances are a major cause of foot burn injuries among the studied population and that culturally specific risk factors predispose Jordanians with diabetes to foot burn injuries, namely ablution for males and cooking activities for females. Participants sought health care when home remedies failed. Inconsistent management practices were identified among health care providers. Culturally specific health education programs should be made to raise patients' awareness towards avoiding possible risks at home.

Investigation of risk factors and characteristics of dance injuries.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to identify risk factors for the occurrence of sport injuries in dancers related to anthropometric variables, training, and specific dance characteristics. DESIGN: One-year, retrospective, cross-sectional study. SETTING: 26th Dance Festival of Joinville (Brazil), 2008. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred dancers (409 women and 91 men) with a mean age of 18.26 ± 4.55 years. ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS: Dancers participating in the 26th Dance Festival of Joinville (Brazil) were interviewed using the Reported Condition Inquiry, which was previously validated and modified for dance. This questionnaire contains questions addressing the anthropometric data of the volunteers and characteristics of injuries that occurred in the past 12 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The data were collected through interviews addressing the occurrence of injuries and respective characteristics. Injury was considered any pain or musculoskeletal condition resulting from training and competition sufficient to alter the normal training routine in terms of form, duration, intensity, or frequency. RESULTS: A total of 377 injuries (75.40%) of the interviewees reported injuries in the past 12 months. The most affected anatomic segments were the ankle/foot (92 injuries; 28.75%) and thigh/leg (88 injuries; 27.50%) in classical ballet, the thigh/leg (43 injuries; 27.92%) in jazz/contemporary dance, and the knee (22 injuries; 43.14%) in tap/folk dance. The most reported causal mechanisms were dynamic overload and excessive use. CONCLUSIONS: Age and body weight were associated with injury in jazz/contemporary dance. Height was associated with injury in classical ballet and tap/folk dance. Duration of practice was associated with injury in classical ballet and jazz/contemporary dance.

The epidemiology of foot wounds in patients with diabetes: a description of 600 consecutive patients in Turkey.

Epidemiological studies describing demographic, clinical, and surgical characteristics of diabetic foot wounds are lacking in Turkey. To further describe the epidemiology of diabetic foot wounds in Turkey, we developed an evaluation form and performed a retrospective cohort study that entailed 600 diabetic patients who were admitted to the hospital for treatment of their foot wound(s). The mean age of the cohort was 62.3 ± 10.3 (range 23-92) years, and their mean duration of diabetes was 17.4 ± 7.4 years. Males accounted for 68.17% of the cohort, and 96.83% of the cohort had type 2 diabetes. Prevalences for lower extremity arterial pulses and peripheral neuropathy, as well as the location, depth, microbiology, and surgical treatment of the pedal wounds are also presented. In conclusion, diabetic foot wounds are common in Turkey, and the morbidity associated with these lesions is generally substantial. Although our investigation aimed primarily at describing risk factors associated with diabetic foot wounds, we believe that the findings of this investigation can be used in the development of prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials that focus on foot wounds in diabetic patients in Turkey, and may be useful to investigators in other parts of the world.

Foot and ankle injuries among martial artists. Results of a survey.

The practice of the martial arts is associated with a variety of lower-extremity injuries. Previous studies of the martial arts have examined injuries to the entire body, while providing only limited information on trauma to the foot and ankle. After a comprehensive review of the literature on martial arts injuries, the authors report the results of a survey on foot and ankle injuries sustained by martial arts practitioners.