Injury Rates Highlight Need For Research

by Rebecca Lee 26.11.08

In elite sport injury prevention is paramount, with research and expert support for athletes important in avoiding time away from training and competition. One such area of research will be looking to identify why injury rates in women taking part in competitive sport are significantly higher than those suffered by men.

Eis2win.co.uk talks to EIS Physician Nick Peirce on the research the EIS is undertaking in partnership with Loughborough University and the need for more understanding of why injuries in women are higher.

According to American research, women are currently considered to be up to eight times more likely to suffer anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage than men. The higher the level of competition, the more at risk athletes are and the US is hailing it an epidemic, with thousands undergoing operations costing millions of dollars.

Research around the susceptibility of men and women to particular injuries is necessary, in particular around bone health and neuromuscular difference. Ongoing projects include research into concussion rates, which are thought to be higher in women, joint injuries and bone damage in endurance athletes leading to stress fractures of the femur.

“The EIS is currently involved in research with Loughborough University in a bid to discover why endurance athletes are more susceptible to stress fractures” explains Peirce.

“We are looking at the changes in bone quality and density through new measures that now look at the changes in the area and thickness of different areas of bone around the hip” he added.

“There is not increasing evidence to suggest there are areas where you would say women appear to be at a greater risk” said Peirce.
“Unfortunately, although there is little research into how common this is in elite sport in this country, we are aware that a number of different patterns are becoming evident. Theses injuries are taking a significant toll on female athletes and clearly there is a lot we don’t know.

“We certainly do not know how the high level of activity is affecting hips, backs and shoulders and there are other injuries such as stress fractures of the back or lumbar disc injuries of the lower spine” he added.

The research being undertaken by the EIS and Loughborough University will involved EIS Physician Dr Nick Peirce, alongside Loughborough University’s Dr Katherine Brook-Wavell and Racehl Duckham from the Department of Human Sciences and is focusing on female athletes.