Background The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center questionnaire on Health problems, recently updated to a second version (OSTRC-H2), has shown a greater ability than a traditional surveillance method to detect athletes with health problems in an adult elite cohort. Moreover, it provides a score that could improve traditional injury severity measures.

Objective 1) To compare the ability of the Spanish OSTRC-H2 questionnaire to identify young injured athletes with the surveillance routine of a High-Performance Training Center and 2) to compare the comprehensiveness of the OSTRC-H2 score with a time-loss approach to assess injury severity.

Design Validation study (prospective, observational). Setting data were collected in M-86 High Performance Training Center (Madrid, Spain) during the validation study of the OSTRC-H2 Spanish questionnaire.

Patients (or Participants) Fifty-four elite athletes (swimming, waterpolo and artistic swimming), from 12 to 18 years old.

Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) During 10 consecutive Sundays, athletes completed online the Spanish OSTRC-H2 questionnaire and 2 questions proposed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation about time-loss of activity. Athletes with musculoskeletal complaints were sent by coaches to Physiotherapy consultations, carried out three times a week.

Main Outcome Measurements Injured athletes (time-loss injury or ‘all complaints’) and floor and ceiling effects of severity scores (OSTRC-H2 score and total and partial self-reported days/week of time-loss).

Results Thirty-six athletes reported injury complaints through the OSTRC-H2 questionnaire. Twenty reported at least one time-loss injury. Physiotherapy consultations detected 41% of the athletes with injury complaints and 35% of those with time-loss injuries. All requests for consultation were attended. Injury severity measures showed different floor and ceiling effects (84% and 4% for total time-loss; 71% and 12% for partial time-loss; 6% and 3% for OSTRC-H2 score).

Conclusions The OSTRC-H2 Spanish questionnaire has shown greater ability to detect young injured athletes than a method based on physiotherapy consultations. Moreover, OSTRC-H2 severity score has shown greater comprehensiveness than a self-reported time-loss approach.