title: Sports injuries and illnesses during the 2015 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevention of injury and illness remains an important issue among young elite athletes. Systematic surveillance of injuries and illnesses during multi-sport events might provide a valuable basis to develop preventive measures, focusing especially on adequate information for youth athletes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the frequencies and characteristics of injuries and illnesses during the 2015 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (W-EYOF).
  
  
  METHODS
  All National Olympic Committees were asked to report daily the occurrence or non-occurrence of newly sustained injuries and illnesses on a standardised reporting form.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 899 registered athletes (37% female) with a mean age of 17.1±0.8 years, a total of 38 injuries and 34 illnesses during the 5 competition days of the W-EYOF were reported, resulting in an incidence of 42.3 injuries and 37.8 illnesses per 1000 athletes, respectively. Injury frequency was highest in snowboard cross (11%), Nordic combined (9%), alpine skiing (6%), and ice hockey (6%), taking into account the respective number of registered athletes. In snowboard cross, females showed a significant higher injury frequency compared to males (22% vs 4%, p=0.033). The lower back (16%), the pelvis (13%), the knee (11%), and the face (11%) were the most common injury locations. About 58% of injuries occurred in competition and about 42% in training. In total, 42% of injuries resulted in an absence of training or competition. The prevalence of illness was highest in figure skating (10%) and Nordic combined (9%), and the respiratory system was affected most often (53%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Four per cent of the athletes suffered from an injury and 4% from illnesses during the 2015 W-EYOF, which is about twofold lower compared to the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruedl
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schnitzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.affiliation: Chief Medical Officer of the 12th Winter European Youth Olympic Festival, Dornbirn, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spiegel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Platzgummer
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burtscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pocecco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008015:Liechtenstein / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D038161:Snow Sports / Q000293:injuries*; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Adolescent; Epidemiology; Illness; Injuries; Olympics