Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries in Chinese collegiate dragon boat athletes: a cross-sectional survey.

This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of injuries among Chinese collegiate dragon boat athletes. A cross-sectional retrospective survey was conducted in 2024 using electronic questionnaires distributed to collegiate dragon boat athletes nationwide. A total of 443 athletes (277 males and 166 females) who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Results showed that 115 athletes (26.0%) reported at least one injury in the previous year, with a total of 172 detailed injury events recorded. The overall injury rate was 1.57 per 1,000 athlete-exposures (AE) (95% CI: 1.34-1.81) and 0.43 per 1,000 training hours (95% CI, 0.36-0.49). Female athletes had significantly higher injury rates than males (2.05 vs. 1.29 per 1,000 AE, 0.56 vs. 0.35 per 1,000 training hours). Chronic injuries (57.6%) were more common than acute injuries (42.4%), with a chronic-to-acute ratio of 1.36:1. The shoulder (29.7%) and waist (23.8%) were the most common injury sites. Water training accounted for 64.5% of all injuries, with the pull phase (58.6%) and catch phase (36.0%) being the most frequently injury-associated technical phases. Most injuries (87.2%) were incidental or mild. These findings provide an epidemiological basis for developing targeted injury prevention strategies for collegiate dragon boat athletes, with emphasis on shoulder and waist protection during the pull and catch phases of paddling.