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PhD Academy Award
Injuries in elite male youth football and athletics: growth and maturation as potential risk factors (PhD Academy Award)
  1. Eirik Halvorsen Wik1,2,3
  1. 1 Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  2. 2 Aspetar Sports Injury and Illness Prevention Programme, Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar
  3. 3 Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Department of Exercise, Sport and Lifestyle Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
  1. Correspondence to Dr Eirik Halvorsen Wik, Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Department of Exercise, Sport and Lifestyle Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; eirik.h.wik{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-107276

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    What did I do?

    The aim of my PhD research was to better understand injury patterns in youth football (soccer) and athletics (track and field) and explore growth rates and skeletal maturity as injury risk factors. In the studies included, we examined differences between recorders within an injury surveillance programme, described the most common and burdensome injuries in youth athletes participating in football and athletics and explored associations between growth rates, skeletal maturity and injury risk in both sports.

    Why did I do it?

    Previous studies had shown that injuries are common in youth athletes1 2; however, few had combined injury location and type to identify targets for injury prevention or calculated injury burden as a measure of impact. Although some studies had indicated that athletes’ maturity status or position relative to the adolescent growth spurt may affect the risk of sustaining injuries,3 findings were inconsistent and we aimed to improve our understanding of these relationships.

    How did I do it?

    The studies were based on routinely collected data at a national sports academy in Qatar. Participants were boys between 11 to 18 years, taking part in the football or athletics programmes. In the first study,4 we compared historical injury data (five seasons) collected by …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @eirikwik

    • Contributors The author has drafted and submitted the full manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.