31.01.2015 Views

2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources

2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources

2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Back Pain in Intercollegiate Rowers<br />

CAROL C. TEITZ, M.D., JOHN O’KANE, M.D., BONNIE K. LIND, M.S., AND JO A. HANNAFIN, M.D., PH.D.<br />

Stallard first reported back pain as<br />

a significant problem in rowers in<br />

1980. He noted that rowing style<br />

had changed from a straight-backed<br />

swing to a flexion <strong>and</strong> rotation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

lumbar spine at the beginning <strong>of</strong> the<br />

stroke. The frequent complaints <strong>of</strong> back<br />

pain among current intercollegiate<br />

rowers, <strong>and</strong> the lack <strong>of</strong> a large-scale<br />

intercollegiate study, prompted the<br />

authors to question whether the<br />

prevalence <strong>of</strong> back pain had increased<br />

in recent years <strong>and</strong>, if so, what factors<br />

might be contributing to back<br />

problems.<br />

METHODS<br />

Surveys were sent to 4680 former<br />

intercollegiate rowing athletes who had<br />

graduated between 1978 <strong>and</strong> 1998 from<br />

5 schools with strong rowing programs.<br />

2165 surveys were returned (46%).<br />

Subjects who had back pain before<br />

college rowing, those older than 45, <strong>and</strong><br />

those who did not indicate whether or<br />

not they had back pain in college were<br />

omitted from the analysis leaving 1632<br />

subjects.<br />

RESULTS<br />

The 1632 subjects included 936<br />

males, 694 females, <strong>and</strong> 2 subjects who<br />

did not report their sex; 71 were<br />

coxswains. The mean college height <strong>and</strong><br />

weight <strong>of</strong> rowers who are currently<br />

under age 30 is significantly greater<br />

than that <strong>of</strong> rowers older than 30<br />

(p

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!