TIME LOSS INJURIES AMONG FORMER COLLEGIATE GYMNASTS: THE INFLUENCE OF FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD SYMPTOMS

Background: Female college gymnasts have one of the highest injury rates in the NCAA and are at risk for female athlete triad syndrome. While female athlete triad syndrome leads to bone stress injuries, little research has been done on specific injury location and type. Purpose: Our objective was to compare injuries sustained during gymnastics between former collegiate gymnasts who did and did not report experiencing symptoms of Female Athlete Triad Syndrome during college, including disordered eating (DE) or menstrual irregularity (MI). Methods: 465 former collegiate gymnasts completed an online survey distributed via social media. Participants were grouped based on mensural irregularity and whether they had a history of DE/ED of not. We compared injury outcomes (time-loss injuries and injuries resulting in surgery) and injury locations between groups using Chi-square analyses. Results: A significantly greater proportion of those who reported MI during college reported a time-loss wrist/hand and injury during gymnastics compared to eumenorrheic gymnasts (Table 1). A significantly greater proportion of those who reported MI during college sustained an injury that required surgery relative to those who reported regular periods during college (52% vs 65%, p=0.009). Specifically, they reported a greater proportion of hip/pelvis (2% vs. 7%, p=0.02) and leg/ankle/foot surgeries (23% vs. 33%, p=0.009). A significantly greater proportion of the group who reported DE during college reported a time-loss gymnastics injury during college that did not require surgery or retirement, relative to those who did not report DE (78% vs 66%, p= 0.005) (Table 2). Specifically, they reported a greater proportion of spine (25% vs. 14%, p=0.002), hip/pelvis (8% vs. 2%, p=0.001), and leg/ankle/foot injuries (53% vs. 41%, p=0.01). There was a significantly greater proportion of gymnasts who reported DE during college who sustained a hip/pelvis (7% vs. 3%, p=0.04) and leg/ankle/foot injury (34% vs. 23%, p=0.02) requiring surgery compared to those who did not report DE during college. onclusion: College gymnasts who experienced triad symptoms were more likely to experience a time-loss injury, or have an injury requiring surgery. Clinicians and providers should be aware of the association between injuries and DE and MI in gymnasts. Early intervention for athletes with triad symptoms should be undertaken to decrease the risk of musculoskeletal injury.

Design, validation, and reliability of survey to measure female athlete triad knowledge among coaches

The purpose of this study was to design and to test the validity and reliability of an instrument to evaluate coaches' knowledge about the female athlete triad syndrome and their confidence in this knowledge. The instrument collects information regarding: knowledge of the syndrome, components, prevention and intervention; confidence of the coaches in their answers; and coach's characteristics (gender, degree held, years of experience in coaching females, continuing education participation specific to the syndrome and its components, and sport coached). The process of designing the questionnaire and testing the validity and reliability of it was done in four phases: a) design and development of the instrument, b) content validity, c) instrument reliability, and d) concurrent validity. The results show that the instrument is suitable for measuring coaches' female athlete triad knowledge. The instrument can contribute to assessing the coaches' knowledge level in relation to this topic.