Abstract
Background:
Limited literature exists evaluating early sports specialization impact among youth para sport athletes. This population faces unique barriers/facilitators influencing the age of sports participation initiation and sport selection. Early sports specialization traditional definitions may not adequately account for medical, physiological, and functional factors affecting injury risk and participation benefits in para athletes. Understanding these factors is critical in this population. This study aims to evaluate trends in youth para sport participation and identify markers of early specialization, including the relationship between sports specialization and sports-related injury patterns.
Hypothesis:
We hypothesized that the majority of pediatric para athletes participated in their primary sport ≤ 8 months/year; para athletes < 12 years old participated in more than one sport year-round; and there was a positive correlation between primary sport participation > 8 months/year and having a sports-related injury in the past year.
Methods:
This cross-sectional web-based survey, developed following the CHERRIES checklist, was piloted by 5 youth para athletes and then distributed to para sport athletes aged 8-18 years through emails sent by national Para sports organizations. Data collected included demographics, medical history, para sport participation patterns, and injury history. Descriptive analyses, including frequencies and percentages, were performed using Microsoft Excel.
Results:
25 survey responses were completed (average age 13.5 years, range 9-17, 52% male). 88% participated in multiple sports year-round (average 8.3 months/year of primary sport and 10.5 months/year of all sports participation). 20% were < 12 years old: 20% participated in their primary sport > 8 months/year; 100% participated in multiple sports year-round (average 7.8 months/year in primary sport; 10.6 months/year in all sports). 39% of respondents reported sports-related injuries in the past year. Among the 44% of respondents with primary sport participation > 8 months/year, 40% sustained sports-related injuries, compared to 42% of those with primary sport participation ≤ 8 months/year. No injuries were reported among those participating in only one sport year-round (average 7 months/year sports participation, 4% participated in one sport > 8 months/year).
Conclusion:
Preliminary data suggests youth para athletes with primary sport participation > 8 months/year compared to ≤ 8 months/year had similar injury rates. The majority of youth para athletes participated in multiple sports year-round, contrasting with typical early specialization patterns. This highlights the need for para sport-specific definitions of early specialization that account for the unique participation patterns and injury risk factors in this population, warranting further research with larger sample sizes.