Injuries and illnesses during the 2021 South America wheelchair basketball championships: an epidemiological study

Introduction: Several international sports federations have implemented a standardized injury registration system during their championships. However, very few studies have included athletes with disabilities during major competitions, apart from the Paralympic Games. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the rate and characteristics of illnesses and injuries during the 2021 South America Wheelchair Basketball Championships. Material and method: The coaching staff of the 11 participating teams (a total of 129 players) were asked to report daily all the health problems that have occurred and their characteristics in a standardized form. Prevalence and incidence rates were calculated. Results: In this study 108 health problems were reported, equivalent to 83.7 per 100 players [95% CI: 67.9-99.5], with 8 timeloss health problems (6.2 per 100 players [95% CI: 1.9-10.5]) and a total of 74 medical attention injuries (57.4 per 100 players [95% CI:44.3-70.4]). Were reported 15 diseases, and the most affected organ systems were ophthalmologic, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary. More injuries were recorded during matches (n=43). The most affected regions were shoulder/clavicle (24.7%), hand/fingers (23.7%) and neck/cervical spine (12.9%). The most frequent conditions were muscle contractures/cramps (32.2%), and the predominant mechanism was overuse (53.8%). 2.2% of concussions produced during training were reported. Most of the recorded events were without time loss and with return to full participation between zero and one day. Conclusion: Monitoring of health problems during competitions is essential to determine sport-specific injury risk factors, and a complex approach should be implemented for the recognition of their characteristics in wheelchair basketball players. In this way, adequate preventive measures can be developed.