Abstract:

Objective To analyze the occurrence of sport injury in Paralympic athletes during the Summer or Winter Paralympic Games, as well as the risk factors for sport injuries and possible interventions.
Methods The literatures related to sport injuries of Paralympic athletes were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO and CNKI from January, 2013 to July, 2022, and a scoping review of the retrieved literature was performed.
Results Finally, eight English articles from China, Sweden, South Africa, Poland and the United States were included, involving 4 769 atheletes. They included one interview study, five survey studies, one retrospective study and one prospective cohort study, which were mainly from journals in the fields of sport medicine, adaptive sport and sport science, and the publication date was mainly from 2016 to 2022. The types of disability of Paralympic athletes mainly involved physical disability (upper and lower limb amputation, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, poliomyelitis, dysplasia and neuromuscular dystrophy, central nervous system injury, myelomeningocele, etc.), intellectual disability and visual disability. The incidence of sport injury was high in Paralympic athletes, and most of the injury occured during competitions. Acute injury, chronic overuse injury and chronic to acute injury were the three most common types of injury. Sports injuries mainly involved head and neck, upper limbs (shoulders, upper arms/forearms, elbows, wrists and fingers), trunk (abdomen, back and waist), and lower limbs (hips/groin, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and toes). Risk factors for sport injuries in Paralympic athletes mainly included previous injury history, illness, fatigue and decreased physical strength, spasticity and muscle weakness; emotional states of inattention or distraction, excessive anxiety or excitement; improper exercise training methods, lack of knowledge related to sport training and injury prevention, and motor skill deficiencies; weather, competition venues, sport facilities, use of equipment and assistive devices, age factors, etc. Injuries of Paralympic athletes could be prevented by providing rehabilitation services for Paralympic athletes, optimizing training design, conducting collective training for coaches and athletes on various types of injuries, conducting research related to sport injuries of disabled athletes, formulating prevention programs and strategies, improving the physical fitness and sport skills of Paralympic athletes, improving emergency treatment techniques for injuries, and strengthening coordination and governance structures between sport medicine and rehabilitation therapists.
Conclusion The incidence of sport injury is high in Paralympic athletes. Chronic overuse injury is the most common injury type, and the injuries most involve head, neck and upper extremities. The risk factors for sport injuries of Paralympic athletes mainly involve physical function, psychological, activities and participation, environment and other factors. The main intervention strategies include providing emergency treatment intervention and monitoring services, sport medicine treatment and rehabilitation, guidance and specialized support, and health education on sport injury prevention.

Key words: Paralympic athletes, Paralympic games, sport injury, risk, intervention, scoping review