Epidemiology of sport climbing injuries caused by a climbing fall among climbers of the French Federation of Mountain and Climbing

摘要

BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries (FRIs) are the most severe sport climbing injuries. The main objective of this study was to measure FRI prevalence and risk factors in a representative sample of climbers of the French Federation of Mountain and Climbing. The second objective was to explore FRI mechanisms.METHODS: The study included 3919 climbers aged 16+. They were invited to fill out an online questionnaire where they reported sociode-mographics, sport-related characteristics and whether they had sustained an FRI in the past 12 months (12-FRI), and over their entire career (ALL-FRI). The mechanisms of 12-FRI were asked for. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between sport-related characteristics and FRI. RESULTS: Nine per cent of the participants reported a 12-FRI and 29 an ALL-FRI. No statistically significant effect of sex, context of climb-ing, or onsight level was observed on 12-FRI. Climbers with 0-3 years of experience (YE) were 1.7 (95 CI: 1.2-2.6) and 3.6 (95 CI: 2.2-6.3) times more likely to have sustained a 12-FRI compared with those with 5-8 YE and 14-23 YE, respectively. An interaction effect was found between YE and onsight level. Among climbers with 0-8 YE, those with a higher onsight level had a higher risk of 12-FRI. Natural falls, unex-pected falls and static belaying were the most commonly reported 12-FRI mechanisms.CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight that future FRI prevention programs should target priority-inexperienced climbers who have pro-gressed rapidly. Climbers should be taught as a priority to stay focused while belaying even in the least difficult passage, and to belay dynami-cally.