Abstract
Background
Over the past years, the rate of injuries sustained at the alpine ski hills in Quebec significantly increased. This raises concern over a possible increase in risk of severe injuries associated with snow-park use. The main objective of this study was to examine the severity of injuries sustained by skiers and snowboarders in snow-parks compared with other slopes from 2001 to 2005.
Methods
A case-control study design was used. Subjects were injured skiers and snowboarders who reported to the ski patrol with an injury. Two sets of severely injured cases were defined based on the type of injury and ambulance evacuation. Injured controls were those who did not sustain severe injuries. 50,593 injury report forms were analyzed. A logistic regression analysis was performed to relate the severity of injury to the type of slope used when the injury occurred. All analyses were controlling for age, sex, skill level, helmet use, season, and type of activity.
Results
There was evidence to suggest that, for skiers (adjusted OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.21- 1.53) and snowboarders (adjusted OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.23), participation in a snowpark increased the risk of being evacuated by ambulance. Severe injuries in skiers were also more likely to occur in snow-parks, but snowboarders had similar risk of severe injury in snow-parks and on other slopes.
Conclusions
These results provide evidence that the type of activities performed in snowparks may increase the risk of sustaining a severe injury compared with participation on other slopes.
MeSH terms: Athletic injuries; snow sports, skiing, case-control studies, risk factors
Résumé
Contexte
Au cours des dernières années, le taux de blessures subies dans les stations de ski alpin du Québec a augmenté significativement. Cette situation est préoccupante et soulève des interrogations quant aux risques de blessures graves associées à la fréquentation des parcs de surf acrobatique. L’objectif général de cette étude était d’analyser la gravité des blessures subies par les skieurs alpins et les planchistes dans les parcs de surf acrobatique, comparativement aux blessures survenues sur les autres pistes, de 2001 à 2005.
Méthode
Une étude cas-témoins a été réalisée. Les sujets étaient les skieurs et planchistes s’étant présentés à des pisteurs secouristes avec des blessures. Deux types de cas ayant subi des blessures graves ont été définis, selon le type de blessure et la nécessité d’évacuer le blessé par ambulance. Les témoins étaient les skieurs et planchistes dont les blessures n’étaient pas graves. Les données de 50 593 rapports de blessure ont été analysées. Par régression logistique, nous avons étudié la relation entre la gravité des blessures et le type de pentes où elles s’étaient produites. Toutes les estimations ont été ajustées selon le sexe, l’âge, le niveau d’habileté, le type d’activité pratiquée au moment de la blessure, le port du casque et la saison.
Résultats
Pour les skieurs (rapport de cotes ajusté = 1,36; IC de 95 % = 1,21–1,53) et les planchistes (RC ajusté = 1,14, IC de 95 % = 1,05–1,23), la pratique d’activités dans les parcs de surf acrobatique augmentait le risque d’être évacué par ambulance. Pour les skieurs, le risque de blessure grave était plus grand dans ces parcs, tandis que pour les planchistes, ce risque était le même dans les parcs de surf acrobatique et sur les autres pistes.
Interprétation
Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que, comparativement aux blessures qui surviennent sur les autres pistes, les activités et les manoeuvres que l’on pratique dans les parcs de surf acrobatique peuvent accroître le risque de subir une blessure grave.
Footnotes
Was at the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec (Québec Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sport) when this study was undertaken.
References
- 1.Canadian Ski Council. Canadian Ski & Snowboard Industry — Facts & Stats 2004. 2005. Available online at: https://doi.org/www.canadianskicouncil.org (Accessed April 5, 2005).
- 2.Hagel BE, Goulet C, Platt RW, Pless IB. Injuries among skiers and snowboarders in Quebec. Epidemiology. 2004;15(3):279–86. doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000120044.62029.b4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Bureau du coroner. Rapport d’enquête du coroner Me Andrée Kronström sur les causes et les circonstances des décès de M. Pierre-Étienne Guay et de M. Yannick Couture. Québec: Bureau du coroner du Québec; 2006. [Google Scholar]
- 4.Rajan GP, Zellweger R. Half pipe snowboarding: An (un)forgettable experience or an increasing risk for head injury? B J Sports Med. 2004;38(6):35. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2004.011882. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Government of Québec. Act respecting Access to Documents Held by Public Bodies and the Protection of Personal Information (R.S.Q., chapter A-2.1) Québec: Éditeur officiel du Québec; 1982. [Google Scholar]
- 6.Government of Québec. Act Respecting Safety in Sports (R.S.Q., chapter S-3.1) Québec: Éditeur officiel du Québec; 1988. [Google Scholar]
- 7.Garrick JG, Kurland LT. The epidemiologic significance of unreported ski injuries. J Safety Res. 1971;3(4):182–87. [Google Scholar]
- 8.Machold W, Kwasny O, Gäßler P, Kolonja A, Reddy B, Bauer E, Lehr S. Risk of injury through snowboarding. J Trauma. 2000;48(6):1109–14. doi: 10.1097/00005373-200006000-00018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Requa RK, Toney JM, Garrick JG. Parameters of injury reporting in skiing. Med Sci Sports. 1977;9(3):185–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Lipskie TL. An Epidemiologic Investigation of Snowboarding Injuries: Rates and Risk Factors [Master thesis in Epidemiology] Ottawa: University of Ottawa; 2000. [Google Scholar]
- 11.Hagel BE, Pless IB, Goulet C, Platt RW, Robitaille Y. Helmet effectiveness in skiers and snowboarders: Case-control and case-crossover study. BMJ. 2005;330(7486):281–83. doi: 10.1136/bmj.38314.480035.7C. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Sulheim S, Holme I, Ekeland A, Bahr R. Helmet use and risk of head injuries in alpine skiers and snowboarders. JAMA. 2006;295(8):919–24. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.8.919. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13.Hagel BE, Meeuwisse WH, Mohtadi NGH, Fick GH. Skiing and snowboarding injuries in the children and adolescents of southern Alberta. Clin J Sport Med. 1999;9(1):9–17. doi: 10.1097/00042752-199901000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 14.Cadman R, Macnab AJ. Age and gender: Two epidemiological factors in skiing and snowboarding injury. In: Mote CD, Johnson RJ, Hauser W, Schaff PS, editors. Skiing Trauma and Safety: Tenth International Symposium. Philadelphia, PA: American Society for Testing and Materials; 1996. pp. 58–65. [Google Scholar]
- 15.The SAS system for Windows [program]. Version 8.02, Cary, NC, USA. 1999. [Google Scholar]
- 16.Rasbash J, Browne W, Goldstein H, Yang M, Plewis I, Healy M, et al. A User’s Guide to MLwiN, version 2.1a, London: Multi-level Models Project. London: Institute of Education, University of London; 2000. [Google Scholar]
- 17.Diggle PJ, Liang KY, Zeger SL. The Analysis of Longitudinal Data. New York: Oxford University Press; 1994. [Google Scholar]
- 18.Archambault M, Audet S, Morin J. Étude financière et économique des stations de ski du Québec. Montréal: Chaire de tourisme - Université du Québec à Montréal; 2004. [Google Scholar]
- 19.Tarazi F, Dvorak MFS, Wing PC. Spinal injuries in skiers and snowboarders. Am J Sports Med. 1999;27(2):177–80. doi: 10.1177/03635465990270021101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 20.Yamakawa H, Murase S, Sakai H, Iwama T, Katada M, Niikawa S, et al. Spinal injuries in snowboarders: Risk of jumping as an integral part of snowboarding. J Trauma. 2001;50(6):1101–5. doi: 10.1097/00005373-200106000-00020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 21.Goulet C, Régnier G, Valois P, Ouellet G. Injuries and risk taking in alpine skiing. In: Johnson RJ, Zucco P, Shealy JE, editors. Skiing Trauma and Safety: Thirteenth International Symposium. Philadelphia: American Society for Testing and Materials; 2000. pp. 139–46. [Google Scholar]
- 22.Howard AW, MacArthur C, Willan A, Rothman L, Moses-McKeag A, MacPherson AK. The effect of safer play equipment on playground injury rates among school children. CMAJ. 2005;172(11):1443–46. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.1041096. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 23.Hagel BE, Pless IB, Goulet C, Platt RW, Robitaille Y. The quality of ski patrol reported injury risk factor information. Inj Prev. 2004;10(5):275–79. doi: 10.1136/ip.2004.005546. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 24.Hagel BE, Pless IB, Goulet C. The effect of wrist guard use on upper-extremity injuries in snowboarders. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162(2):149–56. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwi181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 25.Finch C. A new framework for research leading to sports injury prevention. J Sci Med Sport. 2006;9(1):3–9. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2006.02.009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]