Low back pain in young elite field hockey players, football players and speed skaters: Prevalence and risk factors.

BACKGROUND

Low back pain (LBP) hampers performance and experiencing an episode of LBP is strongly associated with recurrent episodes.

OBJECTIVE

The prevalence of LBP and associated risk factors among young elite athletes in popular sports in the Netherlands were studied.

METHODS

A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was performed among 236 young elite athletes aged between 14–25 years in field hockey, football and speed skating.

RESULTS

One hundred and eighty one (n = 181) athletes responded (response rate 77%). The overall, 12-month prevalence of LBP for the three sports was 60%: field hockey 56%, football 64% and speed skating 60%. Satisfaction with their own performance (OR = 0.5 95%CI:0.3–0.9) and with the coaching staff (OR = 0.5, 95%CI:0.4–0.8) were associated with a lower occurrence of LBP in field hockey. No sport-related risk factors were found in football. In speed skating more training hours (OR = 1.1, 95%CI:1.0–1.2), performance of Pilates (OR = 4.1, 95%CI:1.1–15.7) and more time spent on warming up (OR = 1.1, 95%CI:1.0–1.1) were associated with the occurrence of LBP.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevalence of LBP among young elite athletes compared to the general age-related population was 3–5 times higher. Sport-related risk factors of LBP were found in field hockey and in speed skating.