PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Clarsen, Benjamin
AU  - Berge, Hilde Moseby
AU  - Bendiksen, Fredrik
AU  - Fossan, Bjørn
AU  - Fredriksen, Hilde
AU  - Haugvad, Lars
AU  - Kjelsberg, Mona
AU  - Ronsen, Ola
AU  - Steffen, Kathrin
AU  - Torgalsen, Thomas
AU  - Bahr, Roald
TI  - Injury and illness among Norwegian Olympic athletes during preparation for five consecutive Summer and Winter Games
AID  - 10.1136/bjsports-2023-107128
DP  - 2024 Jan 01
TA  - British Journal of Sports Medicine
PG  - 18--24
VI  - 58
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/58/1/18.short
4100  - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/58/1/18.full
SO  - Br J Sports Med2024 Jan 01; 58
AB  - Objective To describe the patterns of health problems among Norwegian Olympic candidates during their preparations for five consecutive Olympic Games (London 2012, Sochi 2014, Rio de Janeiro 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020).Methods This was a descriptive epidemiological study using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire on Health Problems to collect data on all self-reported health problems from Norwegian Olympic candidate athletes for 12–18 months prior to each Olympic Games. Team physicians and physiotherapists followed up the athlete reports, providing clinical care and classifying reported problems according to the International Olympic Committee 2020 consensus statement on methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport.Results Between 2011 and 2020, 533 athletes were included in the Norwegian Olympic team monitoring programme, with a 78% response to the weekly questionnaire. During this time, athletes reported 2922 health problems, including 1409 illnesses (48%), 886 overuse injuries (repetitive mechanism, 30%) and 627 acute injuries (traumatic mechanism, 21%). Diagnostic codes were recorded for 2829 (97%) of health problems. Athletes reported, on average, 5.9 new health problems per year (95% CI: 5.6 to 6.1), including 1.3 acute injuries (CI: 1.2 to 1.4), 1.7 overuse injuries (CI: 1.6 to 1.9) and 2.9 illnesses (CI: 2.7 to 3.0). Each year, female and male athletes lost an average of 40 and 26 days of training and competition due to health problems, respectively. The diagnoses with the highest health burden were anterior cruciate ligament rupture, respiratory infection, lumbar pain and patellar tendinopathy.Conclusion The injury burden was particularly high among female athletes and in team sports, whereas endurance sports had the greatest burden of illness. Our data provide a compelling argument for prioritising medical care and investing in prevention programmes not just during the Olympic Games, but also the preparation period.Data are available upon reasonable request. Data are available on reasonable request. Requests to access the data will be considered by the authors, within the constraints of privacy and consent.