Incidence of Acute Injuires of Iranian Professional Dragon Boat Female Athletes

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of acute injuries of professional dragon boat female athletes. 50 dragon boat female athletes (mean ± SD: age 22.6±2.9 years, weight 58±5.9 kg, height 160 cm)‎ participated in this study. An injury record form was used to collect and record injury information (incidence, causes, time of incidence and type of injury)‎. Chi Square was used to analyze data. The results of this study showed that muscle cramp was the most common type of injury and the least common type of injury was dislocation and inflation of bursa (each 0.8%) and the difference among these injuries was significant (X2=266.19, P<0.05). Overtraining (18.8%) and insufficient wam-up (11.96%) were the main causes of injuries before training and competitions and the difference between them was significant (X2=66.84, P<0.05). There was a significant difference among injured areas in dragon boat athletes, that is, lower back, fingers and shoulder were the most injured areas (X2=123.93, P<0.05). Most injuries occurred during training than competitions (107 vs. 9) and the difference was significant (X2=82.79, P<0.05). There was a significant difference in the recorded injuries among different components of competitions, that is, the athletes of 1000m and 2000m running had the most injuries (35 and 32 injuries respectively)‎ and the difference in different dragon boat components was significant (X2=31.14, P<0.05). The paddlers who were mostly sitting in four middle rows and three front rows of the boat had more injuries and this difference was significant (X2=23.43, P<0.05). Most injured athletes continued their activity without recovery after injury (56.63%) and the difference was significant (X2=105.45, P<0.05). In conclusion, muscle cramp was the most common type of injury and most injuries occured during training and overtraining was the main cause of injuries. So, coaches are recommended to pay more attention to training type and duration to minmize the injuries.