Low Back Pain in South African Adolescent Field Hockey Players: Implications for Future Practice

Background: Field hockey is a popular sport, globally. Players repeatedly perform a combination of forward flexion and rotational movements, predisposing them to pain/injury. This study aimed to determine the 3-month period prevalence and incidence (number of new cases) of low back pain (LBP) in mal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 14; no. 10; p. 3309
Main Authors: De Wit, Dale, Pillay, Julian D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.05.2025
MDPI
Subjects:
Age
Analysis
Back pain
Biomechanics
Care and treatment
Consent
Diagnosis
Evidence-based medicine
Field hockey
Field hockey players
Focus groups
Guardians
Health aspects
Lifestyles
Low back pain
Methods
Physiological aspects
Pilot projects
Prevalence studies (Epidemiology)
Public health
Questionnaires
Risk factors
Secondary schools
Teenagers
South Africa
health
risk factors
lifestyle factors
treatment approaches
ISSN:2077-0383, 2077-0383
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Background: Field hockey is a popular sport, globally. Players repeatedly perform a combination of forward flexion and rotational movements, predisposing them to pain/injury. This study aimed to determine the 3-month period prevalence and incidence (number of new cases) of low back pain (LBP) in male adolescent field hockey players, its characteristics and association with selected risk factors, and treatment approaches. Methods: A questionnaire-based study was administered to 112 male adolescent players, and included sections on demographics, injury characteristics and professional care sought. Results: Sixty-eight questionnaires were completed (67% participation rate); period prevalence of LBP was 63.2% (35.0%: at the beginning of the season, 32.4%: at mid-season, 22.1%: at end-season); incidence was 38.2%. The most common location for LBP was the middle to low back region (39.5%); the most common duration of pain was a few hours (32.6%). Most participants (79.1%) did not classify their pain as a disability; only 44.2% of participants received medical treatment. Conclusions: Despite focusing on a specific group of adolescents, this study revealed a comparable, yet slightly elevated, prevalence of LBP compared to earlier research predominantly involving female populations. Consequently, we recommend the development, implementation, and rigorous evaluation of targeted strategies for the prevention and management of LBP within the sport of field hockey.
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ISSN:2077-0383
2077-0383
DOI:10.3390/jcm14103309