Low back pain in young elite field hockey players, football players and speed skaters: Prevalence and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) hampers performance and experiencing an episode of LBP is strongly associated with recurrent episodes.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of LBP and associated risk factors among young elite athletes in popular sports in the Netherlands were studied.

METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was performed among 236 young elite athletes aged between 14–25 years in field hockey, football and speed skating.

RESULTS: One hundred and eighty one (n = 181) athletes responded (response rate 77%). The overall, 12-month prevalence of LBP for the three sports was 60%: field hockey 56%, football 64% and speed skating 60%. Satisfaction with their own performance (OR = 0.5 95%CI:0.3–0.9) and with the coaching staff (OR = 0.5, 95%CI:0.4–0.8) were associated with a lower occurrence of LBP in field hockey. No sport-related risk factors were found in football. In speed skating more training hours (OR = 1.1, 95%CI:1.0–1.2), performance of Pilates (OR = 4.1, 95%CI:1.1–15.7) and more time spent on warming up (OR = 1.1, 95%CI:1.0–1.1) were associated with the occurrence of LBP.

CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of LBP among young elite athletes compared to the general age-related population was 3–5 times higher. Sport-related risk factors of LBP were found in field hockey and in speed skating.