Author(s): MU, Z., ZHOU, X., IMAI, K., MA, R.1, YAN, H., WANG, H., HAN, Z., WANG, Q., Institution: HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 1811

INTRODUCTION:
Tennis, as a high-intensity aerobic and anaerobic sport, requires repetitive overhead stroke, rapid jumps, sudden stops, and turns. These characteristics put considerable pressure on the musculoskeletal system, eventually leading to tennis-related injuries. This study aimed to investigate the distribution and incidence of injuries among child and adolescent tennis players aged 6-18 years.
METHODS:
In 2024, a total 375 Chinese tennis players under 18 years of age were recruited randomly, of whom 291 meeting the inclusion criteria were selected as subjects. An epidemiological injury questionnaire investigated sex, age, height, weight, years of tennis training experience, training hours per session, training days per week, warm-up, cool-down, and tennis-related injuries over the past year. The primary outcome measures were the distribution of tennis-related injuries and the injury rate per 1000 training hours with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
RESULTS:
Regardless of gender, the most common sites were ankle (16.50%), wrist (16.50%), and foot (11.00%). By gender, boys experienced a higher rate (68.80%) compared to girls (31.20%). By type, compared to girls, boys (61.00%) are more likely to suffer from acute injuries (39.00%). The injury rate per 1,000 training hours of exposure among child and adolescent tennis players exhibits a double-peak distribution, with the first peak occurs before puberty at age 10 years old (1.21 injuries per 1000 training hours,95CI%: 0.73,1.68) and the second peak emerges during puberty at age 14 years old (1.10 injuries per 1000 training hours, 95CI%:0.45,1.75).
CONCLUSION:
Injury incidence was significantly higher in the 10-year-old group than in other age groups, with a predominantly acute injury pattern, with lower extremity injuries focused on the ankle and upper extremity injuries predominantly in the wrist. Boy players were more likely to sustain tennis-related injuries. The study provides coaches and tennis players with more reasonable training programs by investigating the epidemiology of injuries in school-age tennis players. When training, coaches and tennis players need to pay more attention to the age group and location of high frequency injuries in children and take interventions during the growth period to reduce the high prevalence of injuries in child and adolescent tennis players.