title: Extending in-competition Athletics injury and illness surveillance with pre-participation risk factor screening: A pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the performance of retrospective health data collected from athletes before Athletics championships for the analysis of risk factors for in-competition injury and illness (I&I).
  
  
  METHODS
  For the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships, a self-report questionnaire (PHQ) was developed to record the health status of 127 athletes during the 4 weeks prior to the championship. Physician-based surveillance of in-competition I&I among all 577 athletes registered to compete was pursued during the championships.
  
  
  RESULTS
  74 athletes (58.3%) from the sample submitted a complete PHQ. 21 (28%) of these athletes sustained at least one injury and/or illness during the championships. Training more than 12 h/week predisposed for sustaining an in-competition injury, and a recent health problem for in-competition illness. Among the 577 registered athletes, 60 injuries (104/1000 registered athletes) were reported. 31% of injuries were caused by the track, and 29% by overuse. 29 illnesses were reported (50/1000 registered athletes); upper respiratory tract infection and gastro-enteritis/diarrhoea were the most reported diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-participation screening using athletes' self-report PHQ showed promising results with regard to identification of individuals at risk. Indoor injury types could be attributed to extrinsic factors, such as small track size, track inclination, and race tactics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine Unity, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Faculty of Medicine, Saint-Etienne, France; Laboratory of Exercise Physiology (LPE EA 4338), University of Lyon, F-42023, Saint Etienne, France; Medical Commission, French Athletics Federation (FFA), Paris, France. Electronic address: Pascal.Edouard42@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Edouard
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Swedish Athletics Association, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Toomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Timpka
authors.affiliation: International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Monaco; Sports Medicine Department, Aspetar, Qatar Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Juan-Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Swedish Athletics Association, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Swedish Athletics Association, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sverker
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.affiliation: Medical Commission, French Athletics Federation (FFA), Paris, France; Department of Functional Physiology Explorations and Sports Medicine, Larrey Hospital University Hospital of Toulouse, Toulouse, France; European Athletics Medical & Anti Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA), Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Depiesse
authors.affiliation: International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Monaco; European Athletics Medical & Anti Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA), Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Branco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Epidemiology; Injury/illness surveillance; Pre-competition medical assessment; Sports injury prevention