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- Title
Low back pain in female elite football and handball players compared with an active control group.
- Authors
Tunås, Paula; Nilstad, Agnethe; Myklebust, Grethe
- Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among female elite football and handball players to a matched non-professional active control group. Methods: The participants were requested to answer a questionnaire based on standardized Nordic questionnaires for musculoskeletal symptoms to assess the prevalence of LBP. Included participants were elite female football ( n = 277) and handball players ( n = 190), and a randomly selected control group from the Norwegian population ( n = 167). Results: Fifty-seven percentage of the football players, 59 % of the handball players and 60 % of the control group had experienced LBP the previous year. There were no significant group differences in the prevalence of LBP ever ( p = 0.62), the previous year ( p = 0.85) or the previous 7 days ( p = 0.63). For both sports, there was a significant increase in prevalence of LBP from the resting period to the competitive periods of the season ( p ≤ 0.001). Seventy percent of the goalkeepers in both football and handball had experienced LBP the previous year. Conclusion: There were no difference in LBP among female elite football and handball players compared with the control group. However, female elite athletes in football and handball reported a high prevalence of LBP compared to previous studies. The variations in LBP and playing positions indicate that specific field positions, in football and handball, is a risk factor for developing LBP. Level of evidence: III.
- Subjects
BACKACHE; ELITE athletes; HEALTH of football players; HANDBALL players; DISEASE prevalence; HEALTH; PATIENTS
- Publication
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 2015, Vol 23, Issue 9, p2540
- ISSN
0942-2056
- Publication type
Report
- DOI
10.1007/s00167-014-3069-3