title: Musculoskeletal injuries in physical education versus non-physical education teachers: a prospective study.
abstract: Physical education (PE) teachers have a physically demanding job, putting them at a considerable risk for musculoskeletal injuries. To structurally develop tailored injury prevention programmes for PE teachers, a clear understanding of the extent, characteristics and underlying factors of their musculoskeletal injuries compared to referents is necessary. Therefore, the current study prospectively followed 103 PE teachers and 58 non-PE teachers, who registered musculoskeletal injuries and time of exposure to sports participation during one school year. Pearson χ(2)-tests and independent samples t-tests determined significant differences between PE and non-PE teachers regarding demographics and variables possibly related to injury occurrence. PE teachers had 1.23 and non-PE teachers 0.78 injuries/teacher/school year. This difference was significantly different after adjustment for hours spent weekly on intracurricular teaching during the career and for injury history during the preceding six months (P = 0.009; OR = 0.511; 95% CI = 0.308-0.846). PE teachers' most affected body parts were the knee and the back. PE teachers had a more extensive injury history (P < 0.001), a higher work- (P < 0.001) and sport index (P < 0.001), practiced more sports (P < 0.002) and taught more extracurricular sports (P = 0.001). Future injury prevention programmes should take account for the great injury history and heavy physical load in PE teachers.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Movement- and Sports Sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Lennert
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.affiliation: a Department of Movement- and Sports Sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Sien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vercruysse
authors.affiliation: a Department of Movement- and Sports Sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardon
authors.affiliation: a Department of Movement- and Sports Sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haerens
authors.affiliation: b Department of Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.|c Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Witvrouw
authors.affiliation: a Department of Movement- and Sports Sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Clercq
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000293:injuries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000293:injuries; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D000070777:School Teachers; D013177:Sports; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Incidence; multisport population; occupational