ABSTRACT
Context: There is a shortage of Taekwondo epidemiology studies since the rule changes introduced by World Taekwondo in 2017.
Objective: To describe injury and illness patterns at the Muju 2017 World Taekwondo Championships (WTC) following the implementation of the web-based surveillance system by World Taekwondo.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: All injuries and illnesses were recorded during the 2017 WTC using a web-based system developed by the International Olympic Committee.
Patients or Other Participants: 971 athletes who participated in the 2017 WTC.
Main Outcome Measure(s): A profiles and mechanisms of injury and illness in the 2017 WTC.
Results: We analyzed total 131 injuries and 26 illnesses, corresponding to an overall clinical incidence of 13.5 ((95% confidence interval (CI): 11.2–15.8)) injuries and 2.7 (95% CI: 1.6–3.7) illnesses per 100 athletes, and an overall incidence rate of 19.3 (95% CI: 16.0–22.6) injuries and 3.8 (95% CI: 2.4–5.3) illnesses per 1,000 athlete-days, respectively. Most injuries occurred in the lower extremities (46.6%, n=61), of which knee injuries were most frequent (19.8%, n=26). Among the head and trunk injuries (29.8%, n=39), face injuries (22.1%, n=29) were most frequent, whereas among upper extremity injuries (23.7%, n=31), finger injuries (6.1%, n=8) were most frequent. Contusions (33.6%, n=44) were the most frequent injury type, followed by fractures and ligament ruptures/sprains. The most common injury mechanism was in contact with another athlete (74.0%, n=97), whereas the least common was concussions (n=5). The major affected system was the respiratory system (30.8%, n=8), with major symptoms being pain (42.3%, n=11) and fever (26.9%, n=7). Environmental factors were the most common cause of illness (57.7%, n=15).
Conclusion: The web-based surveillance system used at the 2017 WTC revealed that 13.5/100 athletes (77.8/1,000 athlete-exposures, 13.9/1000 minute-exposures) had new or recurrent injuries, whereas 2.7/100 athletes became ill.