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Information about a piece of news titled Christine Holm Moseid is defending her thesis on the 7th of May 2020

Christine Holm Moseid is defending her thesis on the 7th of May 2020

Intoduction

MD Christine Holm Moseid is defending her thesis "Injury and illness in youth elite athletes" at Ullevål University Hospital.

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Disputas

  • Date: Thursday May 7th. 2020
  • Place: Because of Covid-19 this will be streamed. Link will be posted here and on OSTRCs Facebook as soon as possible.

 

Committee

  • Committee chair: Professor Olav Røise (Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
  • 1. Opponent: Professor Martin Hägglund (Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Sweden)
  • 2. opponent: Professor Babette Pluim (Section Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, the Netherlands)

 

The health benefits associated with youth sports participation are well recognized. At the elite level, however, are these advantages in fact outweighed by an increased risk of injury and illness? Specialized sport academy high-schools enable youth athletes to combine a college-entry high school program with sports at the elite level. There is no consensus, however, on when intensive, sport-specific training programs need to start, what the requirements are for youth elite athletes to improve skills vs. minimizing injury and illness risk, and how physical and mental overload can best be avoided.

Aim of the thesis

The purpose of this thesis was to increase the level of knowledge about the magnitude of health problems in youth elite athletes as well as to examine potential associations between injury and illness and early single-sport specialization, performance level, and physical fitness level.

Conclusion

Nearly half of the youth elite athletes (43%) attending specialized sport academy high schools reported a health problem every week, and 25% reported a substantial health problem weekly. Girls reported more health problems than boys (53% vs. 39%). Neither early specialization nor single-sport specialization appeared to represent risk factors for injury and illness among the youth elite athletes after enrollment into a specialized sport academy high-school environment. Similarly, neither high performance level nor low physical-fitness level appeared to represent risk factors for injury and illness among the youth elite athletes.

Impacts:

The impact of this thesis is strong. There are strong opinions in the public debate on how to best achieve success in youth sport, but research is still limited. This thesis address major issues regarding the caretaking and development of youth elite athletes. The large burden of health problems applied to these athletes, is a concern, and there is an urgent need to care for young athletes by improving injury and illness prevention strategies. The evidence provided is prospective and robust. However, it is important to keep in mind the need for a more precise definition on the term early single-sport specialization for future research purposes.

Supervisors:

  • Main supervisor: Professor Roald Bahr (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre)
  • Co- supervisors: Professor Grethe Myklebust (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre) and Professor Lars Nordsletten (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre /University of Oslo/ Orthopedic Division, Oslo University Hospital)

The thesis is based on three articles:

1. Moseid CH, Myklebust G, Fagerland MW, Clarsen B, Bahr R.  The prevalence and severity of health problems in youth elite sports: A 6-month prospective cohort study of 320 athletes.

2. Moseid CH, Myklebust G, Fagerland MW, Bahr R. The association between early specialization and performance level with injury and illness risk in youth elite athletes.

3. Moseid CH, Myklebust G, Slaastuen MK, Bar-Yaacov JB, Kristiansen AH, Fagerland MW, Bahr R. The association between physical fitness level and number and severity of injury and illness in youth elite athletes.

Read more about Christine and her projects here.