'What Do You Mean, A Wheelchair Athlete?'

摘要

The term "wheelchair athlete" evolved as a term as sports in wheelchairs developed and became more prominent. However, as we look forward to the largest Paralympic Games ever in London in 2012, is this term still valid? With more than 4,000 athletes participating in 20 different sports with a variety of impairment types, it has become evident that, in terms of understanding patterns of injury or illness, this generic term is misleading.A review of the epidemiology of injuries in sports for people with disabilities shows that this topic has received relatively little research attention (3). Early researchers combined data from different sports and reported the patterns of injury by self-report (1,2). Although these were major efforts in breaking into this unknown world, this approach has limitations. Our understanding of good injury surveillance has made great strides, with one of the foremost conferences in the sports medicine calendar, now hosted by the International Olympic Committee, focusing purely on injury prevention. We need to be more specific in research in Paralympic sports to have a clear understanding of injury etiology to enable effective prevention strategies.