Impact of Environmental Factors on the ACL Injury Risk in Recreational Alpine Skiing
Int J Sports Med DOI: 10.1055/a-2134-3908In recreational alpine skiing, an ACL injury represents the most common injury.
Skiing is a complex activity where the skier interacts with the environment,
such as weather, snow conditions, temperature, etc. Thus, the aim of this study
was to evaluate the potential impact of environmental factors on ACL injury risk
in recreational alpine skiers. Among a cohort of 392 ACL-injured skiers and 392
uninjured controls matched for sex and skiing skill, environmental factors were
collected by questionnaire. Factors included weather conditions, snow
conditions, perceived temperature, and slope difficulty at the time-point of the
accident (ACL-injured skiers) or of questioning during the ski day (uninjured
controls).Multiple logistic regression revealed that in addition to age, five environmental
factors were significantly predictive of an ACL injury: fresh snow (OR 10.5),
grippy snow (OR 7.8), icy slope condition (OR 12.4), very cold/cold
perceived temperature (OR 1.6), and skiing on easy slopes (OR 6.9). In
conclusion, besides age, environmental factors such as fresh and grippy snow,
icy slope conditions, low temperatures, and flat slopes are associated with an
increased ACL injury risk in recreational alpine skiing. Those factors are at
least partly modifiable and should be taken into...
Source: International Journal of Sports Medicine - Category: Sports Medicine Authors: Posch, Markus Ruedl, Gerhard Greier, Klaus Faulhaber, Martin Tecklenburg, Katja Schranz, Alois Schliernzauer, Birgit Burtscher, Martin Tags: Clinical Sciences Source Type: research