2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources
2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources
2002 - University of Washington Bone and Joint Sources
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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