title: Acute and chronic injuries among senior international rowers: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to define the types of musculoskeletal injuries present in senior international rowers. According to the literature, no such study has been performed in this group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Injury data were obtained from a total of 634 rowers (33 % female, 67 % male) who completed a 12-month retrospective questionnaire on injury incidence while participating in the Senior World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany, in 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean injury rate per one year was 0.92 injuries per rower (1.75 injuries per 1,000 training sessions per rower). The vast majority of self-reported injuries were chronic injuries (acute vs chronic ratio was 1:2.63), and the majority of reported injuries did not result in loss of time from training or competition. Of all acute injuries, 58.1 % were sustained during rowing-specific training, with 20.6 % injuries sustained in the gym and 21.3 % during cross-training. The most common site of injury was the low back followed by the knee and the chest/thoracic spine. Senior open weight rowers who sustained chronic injuries achieved significantly better final ranking at the 2007 Senior World Rowing Championships compared to the same group of rowers who did not sustain any injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Senior international rowers participating in World Rowing Championships sustained predominantly chronic (overuse) injuries during the rowing season studied. Those were mainly low severity injuries, with the low back being the most frequently injured site. This study may will help in prevention and early diagnosis of eventual injuries in top-level rowers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital Center Zagreb, School of Medicine, Zagreb University, Salata 7, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia, drsmoljanovic@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smoljanovic
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bohacek
authors.forename: Jo Ann
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hannafin
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Terborg
authors.forename: Darko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hren
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pecina
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bojanic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019567:Back Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D012090:Cumulative Trauma Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012272:Ribs / Q000293:injuries; D055815:Young Adult