The effect of concentrating periods of physical activity on the risk of injury in organized sports in a pediatric population.
BACKGROUND
The trend in pediatric sport organizations is to regroup activities into tournaments. Sports-related injuries in children are a public concern.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between sport injuries and consolidation of physical activity in children.


METHODS
A case-crossover study.


METHODS
The emergency department of a tertiary care hospital for approximately 1 year in 2006.


METHODS
Eligible participants had to be between 8 to 16 years of age, presenting to the emergency department for an acute injury that occurred during a timed organized sport event.


METHODS
A standardized questionnaire was used to evaluate the number of hours of organized physical activity, which was defined as a supervised exercise leading to competitions. The number of hours of activity was compared between case periods (48 hours and 7 days) and control periods of same length.


METHODS
An injury was defined as any acute problem with organic tissue that occurred during a sport.


RESULTS
On average, participants performed 136 minutes of organized sport activity in the 48 hours preceding the injury for a mean difference of 8 +/- 18 min. They also performed 356 minutes of organized sports in the 7 days prior the injury. This represented an increase of 40 +/- 31 minutes compared to the control periods.


CONCLUSIONS
More injuries were observed if the athletes had increased the concentration of activity in the 7 days prior. Although small, this difference reflected a minor clinical effect. In our study, we failed to disclose an association for the period of 48 hours.
Fecteau
David
D
Division of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Gravel
Jocelyn
J
D'Angelo
Antonio
A
Martin
Elise
E
Amre
Devendra
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult