title: Paralympic athletes' perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries, risk factors and preventive possibilities.
abstract: Our knowledge of sports-related injuries in para-sport is limited and there are no data on how Paralympic athletes themselves perceive an injury. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore Paralympic athletes' perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries, risk factors and preventive possibilities. Eighteen Swedish Paralympic athletes with vision impairment, intellectual impairment, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele, dysplasia and neuromuscular disorder, representing 10 different para-sports, were interviewed. The qualitative phenomenographic method was used to interpret the data. The analysis revealed nine categories of perceptions of experiences. The athletes perceived that their impairments were involved in the cause and consequential chains associated with a sports-related injury. Other categories that denoted and described these injuries were: sport overuse, risk behaviour, functional limitations, psychological stressors, the normalised pain, health hazards, individual possibilities to prevent sports-related injuries and unequal prerequisites. This qualitative study revealed that Paralympic athletes' perceptions of their experiences of sports-related injuries are complex and multifactorial, and in several ways differ from able-bodied athletes. This needs to be considered in the sports health and safety work within the Paralympic Movement as well as in the design of future injury surveillance systems and preventive programmes.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , Lund University , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fagher
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , Lund University , Lund , Sweden.|b Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Forsberg
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical and Health Sciences , Athletics Research Center , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical and Health Sciences , Athletics Research Center , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Toomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Timpka
authors.affiliation: d Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Örjan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Dahlström
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , Lund University , Lund , Sweden.|b Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lexell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D064846:Sports for Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Qualitative research; athletic injuries; primary prevention; sports for persons with disabilities; sports medicine