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Original article
Illnesses during 11 international athletics championships between 2009 and 2017: incidence, characteristics and sex-specific and discipline-specific differences
  1. Pascal Edouard1,2,3,4,5,
  2. Astrid Junge6,7,
  3. Marine Sorg2,
  4. Toomas Timpka8,
  5. Pedro Branco5,9
  1. 1Inter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Science (LIBM EA 7424), University of Lyon, University Jean Monnet, Saint Etienne, France
  2. 2Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine Unit, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
  3. 3Medical Commission, French Athletics Federation (FFA), Paris, France
  4. 4Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Centre de Médecine Du Sport , Divisionde Médecine Physique et Réadaptation, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
  5. 5European Athletics Medical & Anti Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA), Lausanne, Switzerland
  6. 6Medical School Hamburg (MSH), Hamburg, Germany
  7. 7Swiss Concussion Center and Schulthess Clinic Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
  8. 8Athletics Research Center, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden
  9. 9Health and ScienceCommission, InternationalAssociation of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Monaco
  1. Correspondence to Dr Pascal Edouard, Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine Unit, IRMIS, Campus Santé Innovations, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42 055, France; Pascal.Edouard42{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Illnesses impair athletes’ participation and performance. The epidemiology of illness in athletics is limited.

Objective To describe the occurrence and characteristics of illnesses during international athletics championships (indoor and outdoor), and to analyse differences with regards to athletes’ sex and participation in explosive and endurance disciplines.

Methods During 11 international championships held between 2009 and 2017, physicians from both national medical teams and the local organising committees reported daily on all athlete illnesses using a standardised report form. Illness frequencies, incidence proportions (IPs) and rates (IRs), and relative risks (RR) with 95% CIs were calculated.

Results During the 59 days of the 11 athletics championships, 546 illnesses were recorded in the 12 594 registered athletes equivalent to IP of 43.4 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes (95% CI 39.8 to 46.9) or IR of 1.2 per 1000 registered athlete days (95% CI 1.1 to 1.2). The most frequently reported illnesses were upper respiratory tract infections (18.7%), exercise-induced fatigue/hypotension/collapse (15.4%) and gastroenteritis (13.2%). No myocardial infarction was recorded. A total of 28.8% of illnesses were expected to lead to time loss from sport. The illness IP was similar in male and female athletes, with few differences in illness characteristics. During outdoor championships, the illness IP was higher in endurance than explosive disciplines (RR=1.87; 95% CI 1.58 to 2.23), with a considerably higher IP of exercise-induced illness in endurance disciplines, but a similar upper respiratory tract infection IP in both discipline groups.

Conclusions Illness prevention strategies during international athletics championships should be focused on the most frequent diagnoses in each discipline group.

  • illness
  • prevention
  • risk factor
  • athlete
  • athletics

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-100131

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors PE: substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; drafting, writing and revising of the manuscript; and approval of the final version to be published. AJ: substantial contributions to the conception and design of the project; analysis and interpretation of data; writing and revision of the manuscript; and approval of the final version to be published. MS, TT: substantial contributions to the analysis and interpretation of data; revision of the manuscript; and approval of the final version to be published. PB: substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study; collection and interpretation of data; revision of the manuscript; and approval of the final version to be published.

    • 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.

    • Ethics approval The injury and illness surveillance project (eg,. data collection) was reviewed and approved by the Oslo University School of Medicine Ethical Committee (for athletics championships from 2009 to 2011) and by the Saint-Etienne University Hospital Ethical Committee (for athletics championships from 2012 to 2017), and the analysis of illnesses using all data was reviewed and approved by the Saint-Etienne University Hospital Ethical Committee.

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

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.