How elite athletes, coaches, and physiotherapists perceive a sports injury
Corresponding Author
Caroline Bolling
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Caroline Bolling, Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSaulo Delfino Barboza
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorWillem van Mechelen
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM), Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorH. Roeline Pasman
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Caroline Bolling
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence
Caroline Bolling, Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSaulo Delfino Barboza
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorWillem van Mechelen
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM), Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorH. Roeline Pasman
Amsterdam Collaboration for Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
This study aimed to explore how athletes, coaches, and physiotherapists define a sports injury, and how the elite sport context influences their perception of injury. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with athletes (n = 10), coaches (n = 5), and physiotherapists (n = 4) from different elite sports. The interviews were designed to explore core constructs of a sports injury, and the contextual factors that are related to these core constructs. Interviews were transcribed ad verbatim and analyzed independently by two analysts using comparative data analysis based on Grounded Theory. Participants most commonly defined an injury based on the athlete's performance limitation. Pain and ability to participate were also constructs applied in the definition of an injury, but mainly to appraise severity. A variety of personal and external factors such as personal motivation, pain coping strategies and importance of competition, were mentioned that influenced the injury perception and consequently the injury definition. A sports injury was presented as the end-result of an interaction between athlete features within the athletes’ context. Our findings acknowledge that a sports injury is a context-dependent concept, and provide an insight into the contextual factors that influence athletes’ and stakeholders’ perception of injury.
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