INJURIES AMONG FIGURE SKATERS

THESIS
Submitted to the Faculty of the School of
Graduate Studies and Research
of
California University of Pennsylvania
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Science

by
Maya Hagiwara

Research Advisor, Dr. Carol Biddington
California, Pennsylvania
2009

ii

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone for his or her support and effort who helped in
the completion of my thesis. First, I would like to thank
my chairperson Dr. Carol Biddington. Your time management
skills, encouragement, and patience helped me complete
everything on time. I would also like to thank the members
of my committee: Dr. Thomas F. West and Dr. Linda Meyer. I
appreciated all of your time and effort you have given. I
could not have completed my thesis without my wonderful
committee members.
Second, I have to thank my parents, Kazuo and Keiko
and my brother, Takuya. All of your support helped me to
complete my masters degree in the United States. You are
always believing in me and encouraging me to reach my
goals. Without their understanding, love, and support, I
would not have made my dreams come true. And I also want to
thank my grandparents. I appreciated all your support and
kindness.
I also thank all my classmates especially on-campus
graduate assistants, faculty, coaches, and students at
California University of Pennsylvania for their support and
a fun year.
Finally, thanks to all my current and previous
academic advisors: Dr. Thomas F. West, Dr. Patrick Sexton,
and Dr. Sakuko Ishizaki. I learned many things from all of
you and appreciated your passion of teaching knowledge and
your time. And a special thank to Dr. West. I could not
make the successes without your huge help at California
University of Pennsylvania.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SIGNATURE PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

METHODS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

Research Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

Subjects

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

Preliminary Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

Procedures

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

Hypotheses

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

Data Analysis

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Demographic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Hypotheses Testing

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Additional Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
DISCUSSION

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Discussion of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

v
REFERENCES
APPENDICES

. .
.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

. . . . . . . . . . . .

.

. . . . 26

A. Review of the Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Introduction.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Foot/Ankle Injury . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bursitis

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . 30

. . . . . . 31

Stress Fracture . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Achilles Tendinitis/Tenosynovitis

. . 32

. . . . . . . 32

Knee Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Low Back Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Summary

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

B. The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Basic Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Delimitations of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . 44
Significance of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . 45
C. Additional Methods

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Panel of Experts Letter (C1). . . . . . . . . . . 47
Injuries in Figure Skating Survey (C2) . . . . . . 50
Institutional Review Board (C3). . . . . . . . . . 54
Cover Letter (C4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
REFERENCES

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

vi
ABSTRACT

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

vii
LIST OF TABLES

TABLE

Page

1

Characteristics of Participants . . . . . . . . 10

2

Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

Participants’ Figure Skating Level . . . . . . . 11

4

Participants’ Level.

5

Athletic Trainer Availability during Competition. . 11

6

Athletic Trainer Availability during Practice . . . 11

7

Injury Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

8

Surgery Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

9

Practice Days Missed After Surgey. . . . . . . .

12

10

Total Responses of Injured Body Parts.

. . . . .

13

11

Injury Percentage.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

12

Total Responses for Name of Injury.

13

Month of Injury

. . . . . . . . . . . .

10

11

. . . . . .

14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15

14

Rehabilitation with Medical Professional. . . . .

15

15

2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Foot/Ankle and
Figure Skating Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

16

2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Knee and Figure
Skating Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

17

2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Low Back Pain and
Figure skating Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

18

2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test Comparing
Rehabilitation with Surgery. . . . . . . .

. . 18

viii
19

2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Lower Extremity
Injury and Figure Skating Level. . . . . . . . . 18

1
INTRODUCTION

Sustaining an injury is one of the important events
for athletes, because injury can force a change in the
athlete’s career. In the past many athletes have been
forced to quit their sports due to severe injuries. Other
athletes have not been able to return to the same level as
before the injury. Chronic injuries also bother athletes’
performances over long periods of time. Injury research has
been shown to help prevent injuries in some sports. Major
sports such as baseball, football, basketball, soccer, and
ice hockey have been studied many times, with the results
guiding injury prevention efforts. However, few studies on
injuries in figure skating have been conducted. Information
from injury research would help to prevent some injuries.
Figure skating is a unique sport in part due to the
fact that it takes place on ice. Figure skaters also can
compete in several categories and at different performance
levels and each may have specific injury risks. Competitive
figure skating can be separated into four categories:
singles (male and female), pairs, ice dancing, and
synchronized skating. It is a unique sport because it
contains both artistic and sport components.1,2 Without both

2
balanced physical abilities and artistic capability, figure
skaters will not be sucessful.1
Like other athletes, figure skaters push their bodies
to the limits of performance. Therefore, many figure
skaters have had experiences of acute or chronic injuries
in their career. According to Dubravcic-Simunjark et al,1
the three most common injuries in figure skaters were
foot/ankle injuries, knee injuries, and low back pain. The
authors found that both genders reported chronic injuries
more than acute injuries. Most of the chronic injuries
occurred in the lower extremity. On the other hand, acute
injuries were reported in both the upper and lower
extremity in figure skating.
Many figure skaters have experienced foot/ankle
injuries, because of the stress placed upon this region of
the body and their skate boots. Bursitis is one of the
common injuries in figure skaters. The most common location
of bursitis is medial malleolar and posterior superior
calcaneus in figure skaters.2,3 Stress fractures are not a
rare injury in figure skating. According to the article
written by Bradley,3 the most common sites of a stress
fracture are as follows: the first and second metatarsals,
the fourth and fifth metatarsals, and most commonly in the
tarsal navicular. Many cases of the stress fractures are

3
related to the stress of the leg taking off from the inner
edge of the skate.3,4
Achilles tendinitis is caused by the limitation of
ankle range of motion, especially dorsiflexion and
planterflexion.3 Another mechanism of injury is overuse,
because figure skaters usually spend a lot of time for
jumping skills during their practice.
Fortin and Roberts5 found that knee injuries were the
second highest type of injury reported in figure skating.
Knee injuries in figure skaters are usually an overuse type
of injury involving the knee extensor mechanism.6 Acute
injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament tears or
meniscal injuries are rare.7 According to Dubravcic-Simunjak
et al,1 only 2.1% of the subjects reported knee ligament
sprains. About 15% of both genders reported jumper’s knee
and Osgood-Schlatter disease. Osgood-schlatter’s is common
during the early teenage years. The symptoms are pain or
discomfort during activities and swelling at the tibial
tubercle.8 The pain is related to the frequency and volume
of activities. Stanitki8 found that the condition is
commonly unilateral but 20-30% of athletes report bilateral
injuries.
According to Dubravcic-Simunjark et al,1 low back pain
is the third most common injury in their study. Figure

4
skating requires many hyperextension motions for many
elements such as a layback spin and jumping skills. Some
athletes reported spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis.6
Spondylolysis is the stress fracture of lumbar vertebrae
and the common site is lumbar spine at L5 bilaterally.9 The
mechanism of injury is lumbar hyperextension and lumbar
rotation.9,10
This study will attempt to answer the following
questions: 1) Is foot/ankle injury prevalence dependent
upon figure skating level (basic/intermediate/advanced)? 2)
Is knee injury prevalence dependent upon figure skating
level (basic/intermediate/advanced)? 3) Is low back pain
prevalence dependent upon figure skating level
(basic/intermediate/advanced)? This study will also assess
what specific structures are involved in injury in the
selected regions.

5
METHODS

This section included the following subsections:
research design, subjects, preliminary research,
instrumentation, procedures, hypotheses, and data analysis.

Research Design

A descriptive design was used for this study. The
independent variables were figure skating level as
determined by U.S. Figure Skating and if athletic trainers
were available. The dependent variables were the presence
of foot/ankle injury, knee injury, and/or low back pain.
The strength of this study was a national conducted
survey. A limitation of this study was that only figure
skaters over 18 years old were surveyed.

Subjects

The number of subjects were N = 73. Subjects were
figure skaters over 18 years of age. The survey was
distributed with a cover letter via email and included a
direct link of the survey. The published U.S. Figure

6
Skating contact lists were used. Informed consent was
implied with completion and return of the survey.

Preliminary Research

Prior to distribution of the survey, three experts
from California University of Pennsylvania were given the
Panel of Experts Letter (Appendix C1) and the survey to
review. This panel reviewed the survey and provided minimal
suggestions for improvements.

Instrumentation

The Injuries in Figure Skaters Survey (Appendix C2)
was used in this study. This survey was developed by the
researcher for the purpose of determining common injuries
such as foot/ankle injuries, knee injuries, and low back
pain injuries in figure skaters. Figure skaters were also
asked their injury history, their figure skating level as
determined by U.S. figure skating, and whether an athletic
trainer was available for practices and events.

7
Procedures

An application was given to the California University
of Pennsylvania’s Institutional Review Board for Protection
of Human Subjects (Appendix C3). After approval, the survey
and a cover letter (Appendix C4) were distributed by the
researcher. The U.S. Figure Skating contact lists were used
to send the survey to figure skaters over 18 years of age.
The survey’s direct link was included in the cover letter.

Hypothesis Testing

The following hypotheses were based on a review of the
literature and the intuition of the researcher.
1. A foot/ankle injury (Yes/No) is dependent upon
figure skating level (basic/intermediate/advanced).
2. A knee injury (Yes/No) prevalence is dependent upon
figure skating level (basic/intermediate/advanced).
3. Low back pain (Yes/No) is dependent upon figure
skating level (basic/intermediate/advanced).

8
Data Analysis

The level of significance was set at .05 to test the
acceptability of the stated hypotheses. US figure Skating
determined 10 skills levels. The 10 levels were skills
levels not age groups. The levels were divided into three
categories such as basic, intermediate, and advanced by the
researcher. The basic group was Snowplow Sam/Basic skills
1-8, the category’s figure skaters were not allowed to
compete in any regional competitions. The intermediate
group was non-test, pre-preliminary, and preliminary free
skate. The advanced group was pre-juvenile/open prejuvenile, juvenile/open juvenile, intermediate, novice,
junior, and senior free skate. They were allowed to compete
in national or international competitions if figure skaters
are permitted to participate.

1. A chi-square test of independence contingency table
(2 x 3) was performed to determine if foot/ankle
(Yes/No) was dependent upon figure skating level
(basic/intermediate/advanced).
2. A chi-square test of independence contingency table
(2 x 3) was performed to determine if a knee injury

9
(Yes/No) was dependent upon figure skating level
(basic/intermediate/advanced).
3. A chi-square test of independence contingency table
(2 x 3) was performed to determine if a low back pain
(Yes/No) was dependent upon figure skating level
(basic/intermediate/advanced).

10
RESULTS

Demographic Data

The total number of the subjects was 73. Within the
sample 84% were female (n = 63) and 13.75% represented male
(n = 10). Table 1 depicts the characteristics of the
participants from the study.
Table 1. Characteristics of Participants
Characteristic
Range
Age
18-71

Mean ± SD
38.21 ± 15.67

Years of skating

1-64

18.46 ± 14.00

Years of Single

1-64

18.46 ± 14.00

Years of Pair

1-35

2.24 ± 6.81

Years of Ice dance

1-40

9.55 ± 11.79

Years of Synchronized

1-25

4.95 ± 6.22

Table 2 reported the gender result.
Table 2. Gender
Gender
Male
Female

Frequency
10
63

Percent
13.75%
84.0%

Table 3 represented the participant’s figure skating
level.

11
Table 3. Participants’ Figure Skating Level
Figure Skating Level
Frequency
No-test Free Skate
6
Pre-Preliminary
5
Preliminary
10
Pre-juvenile
6
Juvenile
10
Intermediate
7
Novice
3
Junior
6
Senior
18

Percent
8.0%
6.7%
13.3%
8.0%
13.3%
9.3%
4.0%
8.0%
24.0%

Table 4 showed the participants’ level.
Table 4. Participants’ Level
Participants’ Level
Frequency
Intermediate
21
Advanced
50
No answer
4

Percent
28.0%
66.7%
5.3%

Table 5 represented Athletic Trainer availability
during competitions.
Table 5. Athletic Trainer Availability during Competition
Availability
Frequency
Percent
Yes
13
17.3%
No
34
45.3%
Not compete
23
30.7%

Table 6 showed Athletic Trainer availability during
practices.
Table 6. Athletic Trainer Availability during Practice
Availability
Frequency
Percent
Yes
18
24.0%
No
52
74.3%

Table 7 represented the participants’ injury data.

12
Table 7. Injury Data
Injury
Yes
No
No answer

Frequency
60
10
5

Percent
80.0%
13.3%
6.7%

Table 8 represented the participants’ surgery data.
Table 8. Surgery Data
Surgery
Yes
No

Frequency
22
33

Percent
29.3%
44.0%

Table 9 showed the practice days missed by the
participants after surgery. The upper range of 1,825 days
was 152 months.

Table 9. Practice Days Missed After Surgery
Missing practice
Range
Days
5-1825

Mean ± SD
204.7 ± 389.2

Most of the subjects reported multiple body parts were
injured. Table 10 represented the participants’ total
responses of injured body parts.

13
Table 10. Total Responses of Injured Body Parts
Body Parts
Frequency
Ankle
31
Knee
30
Wrist
20
Low back
19
Shoulder
12
Head
11
Foot
10
Hip
10
Groin
8
Elbow
4
Thigh
3
Face
3
Upper back
2
Neck
2
Finger
2
Thumb
1
Ear
1
Eye
0
Nose
0

Percent
18.3%
17.6%
11.8%
11.2%
7.1%
6.5%
5.9%
5.9%
4.7%
2.3%
1.8%
1.8%
1.2%
1.2%
1.2%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%

Table 11 represented the participants’ injury
percentage of lower extremity and upper extremity.
Table 11. Injury Percentage
Body part
Frequency
Lower Extremity
111
Upper Extremity
58

Percent
65.7%
34.3%

Most of the subjects reported multiple types of
injuries. Table 12 represented the participants’ total
responses for name of injury.

14
Table 12. Total Responses for Name of Injury
Name of injury
Frequency
Fracture
22
Sprain
21
Contusion
14
Tendinitis
12
Concussion
11
Strain
10
Dislocation
9
Cartilage injury
8
Laceration
8
Undiagnosed low back pain
7
Bursitis
5
Spondylolithesis
4
Stress Fracture
4
Subluxation
3
Shin splint
3
Planter faciitis
2
Patellafemoral pain
2
Impingement
1
Osgood-Schlatter
1
Arthritis change
1
Bone Spur
1
Tenosynovitis
0
Spondylolisis
0
Compartment Syndrome
0
Others
22

Percent
12.9%
12.3%
8.2%
7.0%
6.4%
5.8%
5.3%
4.7%
4.7%
4.1%
2.9%
2.3%
2.3%
1.8%
1.8%
1.2%
1.2%
0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
12.9%

Table 13 represented the participants’ total responses
for which month the injuries occurred.

15
Table 13. Month of Injury
Month
Frequency
February
20
January
18
April
16
March
15
June
13
October
13
December
13
July
12
November
12
September
11
August
9
May
7

Percent
12.6%
11.3%
10.6%
9.4%
8.2%
8.2%
8.2%
7.5%
7.5%
6.9%
5.7%
4.4%

Table 14 represented the medical professionals that
the participants’ with surgery selected for postoperational rehabilitation sessions.
Table 14. Rehabilitation with Medical Professional
Medical Professional
Frequency
Percent
Physical Therapist
32
68.1%
Athletic Trainer
8
17.0%
Occupational Therapist
2
4.3%
Chiropractor
3
6.4%
Others
2
4.3%

16
Hypothesis Testing

All hypotheses were tested at an alpha level of .05.
Hypothesis 1: A chi-square test of independence
contingency table (2 x 2) was performed to determine if a
foot/ankle injury (Yes/No) was dependent upon figure
skating level (intermediate/advanced).

A significant

interaction was found (X21 = 5.72, P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Foot/ankle injuries were dependent upon figure
skating level (Table 15). The advanced skaters experienced
more foot/ankle injuries.
Table 15. 2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Foot/Ankle
and Figure Skating Level
Skating Level
Yes
No
X2
P
Intermediate
3
18
5.72
.017
Advanced
22
28

Hypothesis 2: A chi-square test of independence
contingency table (2 x 2) was performed to determine if a
knee injury (Yes/No) was dependent upon figure skating
level (intermediate/advanced). No significant interaction
was found (X22 = 0.11, P > 0.05).
Conclusion: A knee injury was independent from figure
skating level (Table 16).

17

Table 16. 2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Knee and
Figure Skating Level
Skating Level
Yes
No
X2
P
Intermediate
8
13
0.11
.742
Advanced
17
33
Hypothesis 3: A chi-square test of independence
contingency table (2 x 2) was performed to determine if low
back pain(Yes/No) was dependent upon figure skating level
(intermediate/advanced). No significant interaction was
found (X23 = 1.16, P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Low back pain was independent from figure
skating level (Table 17).
Table 17. 2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Low Back
Pain and Figure Skating Level
Skating Level
Yes
No
X2
P
Intermediate
3
18
1.16
.281
Advanced
13
37

Additional Findings

In addition to hypotheses testing, a chi-square test
of independence was performed comparing the frequency of
rehabilitation (Yes/No) for the participants’ having
surgery (Yes/No). A significant interaction was found (X21 =
6.21, P < 0.05).

18
Conclusion: Rehabilitation was dependent on surgery (Table
18). Skaters who had surgery were more likely to have
rehabilitation.
Table 18. 2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test Comparing
Rehabilitation with Surgery
Rehabilitation
Yes
No
X2
P
Yes
18
4
6.24
.013
No
16
17
Another additional finding, a chi-square test of
independence was performed comparing the frequency of lower
extremity injury (Yes/No) with figure skating level
(intermediate/advanced). A significant interaction was
found (X21 = 8.23, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: lower extremity injuries were dependent upon
figure skating level (Table 19). Advanced figure skaters
were more likely to have lower extremity injuries.
Table 19. 2x2 Chi-Square Independence Test for Lower
Extremity Injury and Figure Skating Level
Lower Extremity Injury
Yes
No
X2
P
Intermediate
7
14
8.23
.004
Advanced
35
15

19
DISCUSSION

The following will include 1) Discussion of this
study’s results, 2) Conclusion, and 3) Recommendations from
this study.

Discussion of Results

This study focused on the type of injuries that
occurred in figure skaters over 18 years of age and also
how many participants have athletic trainers available
during their practices and competitions. One of the
previous studies showed that 79.5% of figure skaters
reported injuries during their career.1 Most of the injuries
are chronic type of injuries in figure skating; however,
many athletic trainers are not working with figure skaters.
No previous research was found that indicated athletic
trainers worked with figure skaters in the past.
None of the participants were Snowplow Sam/Basic
Skills 1-8; as a result, this study did not use basic as a
category. There were 28% of the subjects that were in the
category of intermediate and 66.7% of the other skaters
were advanced level.

20
It was found that only 24% of figure skaters had an
athletic trainer during their practice and 17.3% had an
athletic trainer during their competition regularly. This
finding was interesting because there are many athletic
trainers in the United States for other sports; however few
of them are for figure skating. When comparing football and
figure skating, football has more injuries than figure
skating; however, figure skating is also high-risk injury
sport.
This study also found that 80% of participants
reported injury experiences during their figure skating
career. The percentage of injury rate was not low at all.
There were 29.3% of the skaters reporting that they had
surgery for their injury.
Having a foot/ankle injury was found to be dependent
upon figure skating level (basic/intermediate/advanced).
Advanced level athletes were more likely to have foot/ankle
injuries than intermediate level figure skaters. There were
22 advanced participants reporting a foot/ankle injury;
however, only 3 intermediate participants reported a
foot/ankle injury. Other hypotheses such as knee and low
back pain were independent from figure skating level.
The total responses of injured body parts were similar
to the previous studies.1,2,6 This study found that

21
foot/ankle was the most inured part accounting for 41 of
169 or 24.2% and the second highest injured part was knee
accounting for 30 of 169(17.6%). An interesting finding was
the third part. Previous studies showed low back was the
third highest, but this study found low back was the fourth
highest accounting for 19 of 169 or 11.2%.1,2 The third
highest part was wrist with 20 of 169 (11.8%)in this study.
The third and fourth did not have a huge difference but it
was surprising find. There were 65.7% of injuries that
occurred in the lower extremity and upper extremity
injuries were 34.3%. One of the additional findings was
that advanced figure skaters were more likely to have a
lower extremity injury.
This study found that many figure skaters reported
acute type of injuries such as fracture (12.9%), sprain
(12.3%), contusion (8.2%), concussion (6.4%), strain
(5.8%), and dislocation (5.3%) more than chronic types of
injury. Some previous studies found that stress fractures
in young figure skaters was a higher rate;

1,2,5

however, the

participants who were adult skaters reported stress
fracture only 2.3% of the time. The participants were over
the age of 18 and only one figure skater reported OsgoodSchlatter’s disease in this study.

22
The researcher asked which month the injury occurred
in the survey. Most of the injuries occurred in February
(12.6%), January (11.3%), followed by March (10.6%). During
the competition season, many figure skaters had experiences
of injuries. Figure skaters were possibly to have so much
pressure on them physically and mentally during the season;
as a result, the injury rate was increased. The second peak
was June (8.2%) and July (7.5%). During the peak, many
athletes conjecturally participated in summer camps; as a
result, their injury level was increased due to the second
peak of activity.
Rehabilitation is important for injured athletes to
return to play and recover from injury for all injured
athletes. The participants answered which medical
professional provided their rehabilitation. The majority of
skaters were working with physical therapists (68.1%). Only
17% of figure skaters worked with athletic trainers for
their rehabilitation. This study found that rehabilitation
was dependent upon surgery. It was surprising that four
figure skaters answered they had surgery but they did not
participate in any rehabilitation sessions. For the
subjects who did not have surgery; 16 skaters had
rehabilitation sessions and 17 did not have any
rehabilitation sessions.

23
Conclusions

After reviewing the results of this study, it is
concluded that most of the figure skaters had experienced
some injuries during their career. Surprisingly, a higher
percentage of the participants regularly had access to
athletic trainers during practice than competition.
Athletic trainers who work with figure skaters could be
hired for ice hockey as well. That may be a reason why more
athletic trainers worked with skaters during practices than
competitions. Understanding of the type of injuries and
common body parts injured in figure skating may help to
prevent injuries. Figure skaters should work on
strengthening the body parts where most injuries occurred
for injury prevention during the off season. Most of the
figure skaters who had rehabilitation worked with physical
therapists more than an athletic trainer. The figure
skaters who were over the age of 18 reported acute injuries
more than chronic injuries in this study.

Recommendations

There are some recommendations that can be made as a
result of this study for future research. First, the survey

24
would need to include all category levels as determined by
the U.S. Figure Skating Organization. Adult figure and
young figure skaters have different figure skating levels.
It would also be beneficial to research both young skaters
under 18 years of age and adult skaters over 18 years of
age. Another suggestion would be to list more injury names
in the survey because many figure skaters answered the
response “others” which did not specify any injury name.

25
REFERENCES
1.

Dubravicic-Simunjak S, Pecina M, Kuipers H, Moran J,
Haspl M. The incidence of injuries in elite junior
figure skaters. American J Med. 2003;31:511-517.

2.

Jaworski CA, Ballantine-Talmadge S. On thin ice:
preparing and caring for the ice skater during
competition. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2008;7:133-137.

3.

Bradley MA. Prevention and treatment of foot and ankle
injuries in figure skating. Curr Sports Med Rep.
2006;7:258-261.

4.

Pecina M, Bojanic I, Dubravcic S. Stress fracture in
figure skaters. American J Sports Med. 1990;18:277279.

5.

Fortin JD, Roberts D. Competitive figure skating
injuries. Pain Physician. 2003;6:313-318.

6.

Bloch RM. Figure skating injuries. Physical Med Rehab
Clinics N America. 1999;10:177-188.

7.

Lipetz J, Kruse RJ. Injuries and special concerns of
female figure skaters. Clinics Sports Med.
2000;19:369-380.

8.

Stanitki CL. Knee overuse disorders in the pediatric
and adolescent athlete. Institutional Course Lectures.
1993;42:482-495.

9.

Iwamoto J, Takeda T, Wakamoto K. Returning athletes
with severe low back pain and spondylolysis to
original sporting activities with conservative
treatment. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2004;14:346-351.

10.

Omey ML, Micheli LJ, Gerbino PG. Idiopathic scoliosis
and spondylolysis in the female athlete. Clinical
Ortho Related Research. 2000;372:74-84.

26

APPENDICES

27

APPENDIX A
Review of the Literature

28
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Figure skating is a unique sport in part, due to the
fact that it takes place on ice. Like other athletes,
figure skaters push their bodies to the limited of
performance. Therefore, many figure skaters have had
experiences of acute or chronic injuries in their career.
According to Dubravcic-Simunjark et al,1 their study showed
that the three most common injuries in figure skaters were
foot/ankle injuries, knee injuries, and low back pain.
Other than this study, there has been little figure skating
related injury research done in the past.
Figure skaters can compete in several categories and
at different performance levels and each may have specific
injury risks. Competitive figure skating can be separated
into four categories: singles (male and female), pairs, ice
dancing, and synchronized skating. It is a unique sport
because it contains both artistic and sport components.1,2
Without both balanced physical abilities and artistic
capability, figure skaters will not be sucessful.1
The purpose of this review of literature is to
understand the forces places on the body by figure skating
and the common injuries that may result. This literature
review will focus on the three most common injuries in

29
figure skaters as identified by Dubravcic-Simunjark et al:1
1) foot/ankle injuries, 2) knee injuries, and 3) low back
pain. The foot/ankle injuries section will include 1)
Bursitis, 2) Stress fracture, and 3) Achilles
tendinitis/tenosynovitis. A summary will also be included.
One of the study was done by Dubravcic-Simunjark et
al,1 they corrected surveys from junior elite figure
skaters. The subjects were 572 junior figure skaters and
469 figure skaters answered questionnaires. Female figure
skaters were 236 and 233 male figure skaters. The female
and male figure skaters mean ages were 16 years old and 18
years old respectively.1
According to Dubravcic-Simunjark et al,1 female figure
skaters reported that acute injuries were 59 skaters and
chronic injuries were 101 figure skaters. 19 figure skaters
reported low back pain. Various parts of Stress fractures
were reported from 29 females. Male figure skaters reported
65 acute injuries, 106 chronic injuries, and 23 low back
pain.1
The authors found that both gender reported chronic
injuries more than acute injuries.1 Most of the chronic
injuries were occurred in lower extremity, only one injury
was reported for lumbar spine. One the other hand, acute
injuries were reported both upper and lower extremity in

30
figure skating. Only pair skaters reported shoulder
injuries and more percentage of acute injuries than other
skaters.1 Their study showed that the three most common
injuries in figure skaters were foot/ankle injuries, knee
injuries, and low back pain.

Foot/Ankle Injuries

Many figure skaters have experienced foot/ankle
injuries, because of the stress placed upon this region of
the body and their skate boots. The boots are composed of
two parts. The boot part is made by four hard layers of
leather and another part is the blade which is made of
steel.1,2

Skaters need a hard support around their ankle

due to the support needed for the high level of skills and
required by their sports. The boots also need to prevent
sprains and other ankle problems. On the other hand, the
figure skating boot tends to cause foot and ankle injuries
as well.3 According to Dubravcic-Simunjak,1 the lower
extremity injury rate was increased by age. Sixty percent
of figure skaters between 8 and 14 years old reported lower
extremity injuries; however, 70% of figure skaters between
15 and 20 years old reported lower extremity injuries.
Other athletes wear shoes of designed to provide support.

31
Gamboa et al,4 collected injury data from elite
preprofessional ballet dancers. Ballet dancers wear point
shoes which contain a hard wood toe part; as a result,
53.4% of the ballet dancers reported foot/ankle injuries.4

Bursitis
Bursitis is one of the common injuries in figure
skaters. The function of bursa is cushioning the soft
tissue of the ankle from friction force.5 The most common
location of bursitis is medial malleolar and posterior
superior calcaneus in figure skaters.2,3 In figure skaters,
bursitis is typically aseptic bursitis from either acute or
chronic mechanisms.5 The mechanism of injury for bursitis is
inappropriate fitting of figure skating boots. The wrong
fitting tends to result in abnormal pressure and shear
forces. When figure skaters buy a new pair of boots, they
are increasing the chance to have bursitis.5
A skater can prevent bursitis by rechecking their
figure skating boots. Figure skaters can add extra padding
or use a ball-and-ring to extend the leather in the skate
to make more room for the irritated area.5

32
Stress Fracture
Stress fractures are not a rare injury in figure
skating. According to the article written by Bradley,3 the
most common sites of a stress fracture are as follows: the
first and second metatarsals, the fourth and fifth
metatarsals, and most commonly in the tarsal navicular. A
study done during the preseason by Pecina, Bojanic, and
Dubravcic,6 identified stress fractures in four cases, and
five stress fractures occurred during the season. Two
athletes had a Jones’ fracture, two of the athletes had
tarsal navicular stress fracture, and an athlete fractured
the middle of the third metatarsal.
The mechanism of injury is a result of figure skaters
changing their training routine, increasing running
distance, and increasing training time that required
jumping on the ice. Many cases of the stress fractures are
related to the leg taking off from the inner edge of the
skate.3,6

Achilles Tendinitis/Tenosynovitis
Figure skating boots are hard due to the need to
support the athlete’s foot. The support system is important
for them; however, it limits ankle range of motion,
especially dorsiflexion and planterflexion.3 The limitation

33
is one of the causes of Achilles tendinitis. Another
mechanism of injury is overuse, because figure skaters
usually spend a lot of time for jumping skills during their
practice. Figure skaters need to absorb stress from landing
of jumps successfully; otherwise, achilles tendinitis is
possible.2,3 Another achilles tendon related injury is
tenosynovitis. It occurs by presenting friction forces
between the figure skating boot and the tendon when they
flex their ankles and knees.3

Knee Injuries

Jumping exercises can produce a lot of force
especially when figure skater’s land on a leg, because the
landing is always on the same leg. The knee on the landing
leg has to absorb great force due to the limitation of the
ankle range of motion.3 Many figure skaters injure the
dominant side of the lower extremity, because this side
usually is used for landing from jumping exercises.7
Fortin and Roberts7 found that knee injuries were the
second highest type of injury reported in figure skating.
Knee injuries in figure skaters are usually an overuse type
of injury by a knee extensor mechanism.8 Acute injuries such
as anterior cruciate ligament tears or meniscal injuries

34
are rare.9 According to Dubravcic-Simunjak et al,1 only 2.1%
of the subjects reported knee ligament sprains.
One of the overuse types of injuries is SindingLarsen-Johansson disease. The condition is common in 10 to
12 year olds. The injury occurs at the inferior pole of the
patella and related in anterior knee pain.10 The mechanism
of injury is substantive traction force presenting at the
patellar tendon.8 As a result, the inferior patellar pole
would have calcification and ossification.10 The injury
requires about 12 to 18 months to heal. The patients often
need to be limited their sports participation levels.10
According to Dubravcic-Simunjak et al,1 about 15% of
both genders reported jumper’s knee and Osgood-Schlatter
disease. Smith et al,11 examined the relationship between
flexibility and anterior knee pain in adolescent elite
figure skaters. The authors predicted flexibility and
anterior knee pain were correlated. The subjects were 46
adolescent elite figure skaters with anterior knee pain.
Fourteen athletes reported anterior knee pain which
included the jumper’s knee, Osgood-Schlatter disease, and
isolated patello femoral pain syndrome.11 Some athletes
associated different injuries with patello femoral pain
syndrome. Both female and male junior figure skaters had an

35
experience of either the jumper’s knee or Osgood-Schlatter
disease. There is no gender difference.1
Osgood-schlatter’s is common during the early teenage
years. The symptoms are pain or discomfort during
activities and swelling at the tibial tubercle.10 The pain
is related to the frequency and volume of activities.
According to Stanitki,10 the condition is common
unilaterally but 20-30% of athletes report bilateral
injuries. Athletes who participate in jumping, squatting or
kneeling could experience Osgood-Schlatter’s disease. The
mechanism of injury is repetitive tensile forces on the
immature patellar tendon.10 The prevention of the injury is
increasing flexibility especially in the hamstring and
quadriceps. Controlling sports activities is necessary when
athletes have symptoms.10
According to Dixit et al,12 the definition of patello
femoral pain is anterior knee pain related to the patella
and retinaculum.

One of the causes of patello femoral pain

syndrome is a weak vastus medialis oblique muscle, because
many figure skaters’ vastus lateralis is well developed as
compared to the medialis.9 Another reason that Patello
femoral pain is involved is incorrect patellar tracking.
Most athletes feel the pain behind or around the patella.
When they perform activities such as running or activities

36
involving knee flexion, the pain is increased.12 Body
posture is related to the pathology as well. The athlete
who has pes planus, abnormal Q angle, or subtalar pronation
could have a greater chance of patello femoral pain
syndrome.12
Smith, Stroud and McQueen11 found that figure skaters
of both genders did not have good flexibility of either
quadriceps or hamstrings. Both female and male figure
skaters with inflexible quadriceps had anterior knee pain
at a high rate.11 Only female figure skaters with hamstring
tightness had patello femoral pain. On the other hand, male
figure skaters with tight hamstrings did not show a
relationship between flexibility and anterior knee pain.11
Smith et al,6 concluded that flexibility and anterior knee
pain were related but vary between genders.

Low Back Pain

According to Dubravcic-Simunjark et al,1 low back pain
is the third most common injury in their study. One of the
studies written by Gamboa et al,4 found that low back pain
in elite preprofessional dancers is the fourth ranked
injury. This study also compared injured athletes to non-

37
injured athletes, 56% of the injured dancers reported
history of low back pain.4
Figure skating requires many hyperextension motions
for many elements such as layback spin and jumping skills.
Some athletes reported spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis.8
These injuries are common in figure skating and other
sports as well. According to Gamboa et al,4 9.4% of the
elite preprofessional ballet dancers reported low back
pain. Many dancers with low back pain were determined to
have limited range of motion of hip adduction. The
limitation causes lateral hip and knee pain in the dancers.4
Spondylolysis is the stress fracture of lumbar vertebrae
and the common site is lumbar spine at L5 bilaterally.13 The
mechanism of injury is lumbar hyperextension and lumbar
rotation.13,14 Iwamoto and Wakano10 found that the most common
subjects’ age for this condition is between 15-19 years
old, because their bones are still immature. Omey, Micheli
and Gerbino,14 reported that athletes with lasting low back
pain needs to be vigilant, because they have a higher risk
of spondylolysis. Forty seven percent of spondylolisis
patients are adolescent and adult athletes.14 Generally, 6%
of the population could have spondylolisis and half of low
back pain is caused by the pathology.15 Athletes with the
injury usually complain of pain with hyperextension and

38
show hamstring tightness, hyperlordotic posture, and
limited range of motion.14,15
Spondylolisthesis is where one vertebrae slip or when
the vertebrae moves forward over another.15 The most common
site of spondylolisthesis is between L5-S1 region, and
female athletes could have a higher grade spondylolisthesis
than male athletes.16 Some athletes with spondylolisthesis
reposted chronic low back pain. The mechanism of injury is
overuse, degeneration, or a history of spondylolysis.15
General treatment of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis is
non-surgical treatment. According to Tallarico et al,16 rest
is the primal treatment of these conditions. However, some
athletes with spondylolisthesis need surgical treatment, if
the athletes failed non-surgical treatment after six months
of period.
One of the studies done by Silfies et al,17 examined
lumber position and low back injuries in college athletes.
The authors made a hypothesis that athletes with a history
of low back pain would have poor lumber position. The
authors examined passive and active trunk reposition and
motion perception threshold.17 In the conclusion, the
authors could not prove the hypothesis, because the injured
athletes and non-injured athletes did not show any
significant differences.17

39
According to Fortin and Roberts,7 some athletes
reported sacroilical joint dysfunction, because of their
landings and missed landings. Both complete and imcomplete
landings affect their sarcroiliac joint due to torsion
stress. Figure skaters always land on the same leg; as a
result, the gluteus muscle groups are not balanced well.7
Most figure skaters use their landing on the right side,
some figure skaters have a functional short leg on the
right side as well.7

Summary

Figure skating is a unique sport in part, because the
sport occurs on ice. Many figure skaters have had either
acute or chronic injury experiences in their skating
career. Dubravacic-Simunjak et al,1 performed a study
examining common injuries in figure skating. The authors
found that foot/ankle injuries, knee injuries, and low back
pain are the three commonly injured areas of the body.1
Foot/ankle injuries are the most common injuries in
figure skaters in part because of figure skating boots.1
There are three common injuries in foot/ankle injuries such
as bursitis, stress fracture, and Achilles
tendinitis/tenosynovitis.

40
The second common injury is knee injuries. It is
usually an overuse type of injury.8 Sinding-Larsen-Johansson
disease is one of the overuse type of injuries. The
mechanism of injury is repeating traction force at the
inferior patella tendon.10 According to Smith et al,11 there
is a relationship between anterior knee pain and
flexibility. Osgood-Schlatter’s disease is also an overused
injury. The cause of this injury is repetitive tensile
forces.10 Some figure skaters experience patella femoral
pain. The pain causes muscle imbalance especially vastu
medialis oblique muscle weakness.9
The third common injury in figure skating is low back
pain. Figure skaters need to perform hyperextension
movements in their practice, this causes the low back pain.
Spondylolisis and spondylolisthesis are reported from some
figure skaters. Spondylolisys is the stress fracture of
lumbar spine and spondylolisthesis is the forward slipping
of the vertebrae. Both conditions occur around the L5 area.
Silfies et al,17 found that previous history of low back
pain and lumber position are influenced.

41

APPENDIX B
THE PROBLEM

42
THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem
Most figure skaters have had acute or chronic injuries
in their career, similar to other athletes. Injury is not
good for athletes because it sometimes can decrease their
abilities or limit their participation temporarily or
permanently. There are many studies on injuries for many
sports; however, figure skating has had a little research.
Athletic trainers are working with a variety of sports
to help with injury prevention, rehabilitation, and
treatment. However, most of the past research has not
examined how many figure skaters regularly have an athletic
trainer for their practice or competition. The purpose of
this study is to determine what types of injuries are
common in figure skaters and how many figure skaters have
athletic trainers for their practice or competition.

Definition of Terms
The following terms have been defined for the purpose
of this study:
1.

Figure skating: skating on ice and performing a
variety of steps including jumps and spins.8 It
contains both artistic and sport components.1,2

43
2.

Ice dancing: skating with both female and male
together. They do not perform jumping or overhead
lifting. Ice dance program emphasizes movement with
the music.8 Their program includes very difficult step
sequences. If the ice dancers perform a step sequence
together, they have to skate closely as close as
possible.8

3.

Pair skating: A female and a male are skating
together.

Male figure skaters throw the partner into

a jump or they jump separately at the same time. Pair
skaters’ program included lifting skills where the
female skater is lifted by the partner over the
shoulders or lifted horizontal to the ice. They also
perform step sequences together or separately.8
8

4.

Single skating: skating individually on ice.

5.

Synchronized skating: A group skating of team members
where there are a minimum 12 skaters and a maximum of
20 skaters. The emphasis is on the union and the
pattern made on the ice.8

Basic Assumptions
There are several basic assumptions the researcher
used during this study.

44
1.

The subjects will respond to the survey honestly and
to the best of their ability.

2.

The survey will have content validity after review by
a panel of experts.

3.

There will be a high return rate because of a national
survey.

Limitations of the Study
The following are possible limitations of the study:
1.

Incorrect names or email addresses of directors of the
figure skating clubs could be included in the list
serve.

2.

Some subjects may not completely recall their past
history of injuries.

3.

Some subjects may not know medical terminology in the
survey.

Delimitations
The following are possible delimitations of this
study:
1.

The survey will be answered only by figure skaters
over the age of 18.

2.

Only figure skaters in the United States will be
subjects.

45
3.

All subjects will have to have computer access to
complete the survey.

Significance of the Study
Many figure skaters have had experiences of either
acute or chronic injuries in their career. This study can
help those figure skaters, coaches, athletic trainers
become aware of common injuries in figure skating. It also
can provide some benefit for preventing injuries.
Prevention is the very important key for figure skater,
because injury can negatively affect their performance.
Increasing knowledge of injuries can benefit treatment and
rehabilitation as well. The advantages will help athletes
to return to play early.

46

APPENDIX C
ADDITIONAL METHODS

47

APPENDIX C1
Panel of Experts Letter

48
Date

Dear Panel of Experts,
My name is Maya Hagiwara and I am a graduate student at
California University of Pennsylvania pursing a Master of
Science degree in Athletic Training. To fulfill the thesis
requirement for this program, I am conducting a descriptive
study. The objective of this study is to determine what
kinds of injuries are common in figure skaters and how many
figure skaters have athletic trainers for their practice
and competition. The subjects will be figure skaters over
18 years old. I will be using the Injuries in Figure
Skaters survey.
In order to increase the content validity of the
instrument, a panel of experts has been chosen to review
the survey. You have been selected as one of the three
professionals to be on this panel due to your position and
experience. Your feedback is very important to the success
of this study and to enhance the content validity of the
questionnaire. The information obtained by this panel of
experts review will be used to make revisions and create
the final survey to be distributed to the population
sample.
After reading the questionnaire, please respond to the
questionnaire by answering four questions on the back of
this letter.
I appreciate your time and efforts.
Sincerely,

Maya Hagiwara,
California University of Pennsylvania
Phone #
Email

49
1. Please comment on question appropriateness, question
validity, question understanding, and the overall visual
appearance of the questionnaire.

2. Should any additional items be added to the
questionnaire?

3. Should any items from the questionnaire be excluded?

4. Please feel free to make any additional comments or
criticism on the questionnaire.

50

APPENDIX C2
Injuries in Figure Skaters Survey

51
Injuries in Figure Skaters Survey
Please answer the following questions.
1. What is your age? ________
2. What is your gender?

Male □

Female □

3. How many years have you been figure skating?
__________ Years
How many years have you been skating each category below?
Single skating __________
Pair skating
__________
Ice dancing
___________
Synchronized skating _________
4. What is your level of figure skating?
Snowplow Sam/Basic Skills □
No-test Free Skate □
Pre-Preliminary Free Skate □
Preliminary Free Skate □
Pre-juvenile/Open Pre-Juvenile Free Skate □
Juvenile/Open Juvenile Free Skate □
Intermediate Free Skate □
Novice Free Skate □
Junior Free Skate □
Senior Free Skate □
5. Do you have an athletic trainer available during your
competitions regularly?
Yes □ No □ I do not compete
Do you have an athletic trainer available during your
practices regularly?
Yes □ No □
6. Have you ever had an injury that resulted from your
participation in figure skating?
Yes □ No □
If Yes, go to question 7
If No, your survey is done. Thank you for participating in
my study.

52
7. List all injuries you have had in figure skating
Body part

Ex) ankle
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Name of the injury

sprain

How many days
did you take
off from
practice?
5 days

Body part: (drop down list)
1.Foot
2.Ankle
4.Thigh
5.Groin
7.Low back
8.Upper back
10.Head
11.Shoulder
13.Wrist
14.Finger
16.Face
17.Ear
19.Nose

In what
month did
the injury
occur?
October

3.Knee
6.Hip
9.Neck
12.Elbow
15.Thumb
18.Eye

Name of injuries: (drop down list)
1.Concussion
2.Sprain
3.Strain
4.Contusion
5.Fracture
6.Tendinitis
7.Tenosynovitis
8.Dislocation
9.Subluxation
10.Spondylolisis
11.Spondylolithesis
12.Compartment syndrome
13.Planter faciitis
14.Impingement
15.Bursitis
16.Osgood-Schlatter disease
17.Patellafemoral pain
18.Cartilage injury
19.Arthritis
20.Undiagnosed pain
21.Stress fracture
22.Bone spur
23.Shin splint
24.Laceration
25.Others
8. Which injury from the above list would you consider the
most serious?
_____________________

53
a. How long did it take you to return to play for the
most serious injury? __________
b. Have you had a surgery for the most serious injury?
Yes □ No □
c. Did you attend rehabilitation sessions for your
injury?
Yes □ No □
d. Who performed your rehabilitation?
Athletic trainer □
Physical Therapist □
Occupational therapist □
Chiropractor □
Others ________________

54

APPENDIX C3
Institutional Review Board

55

56

57

58

59

APPENDIX C4
Cover Letter

60
Dear Participant:
I am a master’s degree candidate at California University
of Pennsylvania, requesting your help to complete part of
my degree requirements. Please follow the link at the end
of this letter to an online survey titled: Injuries in
Figure Skaters.
All figure skaters who are over 18 years of age and are
members of the US Figure Skating are being asked to submit
this questionnaire, but you have the right to choose not to
participate or to discontinue participation at any time.
The participants must be over age 18 years old. The
California University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review
Board has approved this study for the Protection of Human
Subjects.
This is an anonymous questionnaire and upon submission,
neither your name nor email address will be attached to
your answers. Your information will be kept strictly
confidential. The questionnaire consists of 8 questions,
which will take about 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

As a figure skater over 18 years of age, your injury
history and availability of an athletic trainer during
practice and/or competition makes your input invaluable.
Please take a few minutes to fill out the anonymous
questionnaire you will find by clicking on this link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HmBL0nLUJbWuhQaJU8NVP
w_3d_3d
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Maya Hagiwara, ATC, PES
California University of Pennsylvania
250 University Ave.
California, PA 15419
hag1482@cup.edu
Carol Biddington, EdD
Faculty Advisor
Health Science and Sport Studies
724-938-4562

61
REFERENCES
1.

Dubravicic-Simunjak S, Pecina M, Kuipers H, Moran J,
Haspl M. The incidence of injuries in elite junior
figure skaters. American J Med. 2003;31:511-517.

2.

Jaworski CA, Ballantine-Talmadge S. On thin ice:
preparing and caring for the ice skater during
competition. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2008;7:133-137.

3.

Bradley MA. Prevention and treatment of foot and ankle
injuries in figure skating. Curr Sports Med Rep.
2006;7:258-261.

4.

Gamboa JM, Roverts LA, Maring J, Fergus A. Injury
patterns in elite preprofessional ballet dancers and
the utility of screening programs to identify risk
characteristics. J Ortho Sports Physical Therapy.
2008;38:126-136.

5.

Brown TD, Varney TE, Micheli LJ. Malleolar bursitis in
figure skaters: indications for operative and
nonoperative treatment. American J Sports Med.
2000;28:109-111.

6.

Pecina M, Bojanic I, Dubravcic S. Stress fracture in
figure skaters. American J Sports Med. 1990;18:277279.

7.

Fortin JD, Roberts D. Competitive figure skating
injuries. Pain Physician. 2003;6:313-318.

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ABSTRACT
TITLE:

INJURIES AMOUNG FIGURE SKATERS

RESEARCHER:

Maya Hagiwara, ATC, PES

DATE:

May 2009

RESEARCH TYPE: Master Thesis
ADVISOR:

Dr. Carol Biddington

PURPOSE:

To determine what types of injuries are
common in figure skaters and how many figure
skaters have an athletic trainer for their
practice or competition.

METHODS:

Figure skaters (N=73) over the age of 18
were surveyed. The survey consisted of
questions regarding figure skating related
injuries and the availability of an athletic
trainer during practices and competitions.

FINDINGS:

Advanced figure skaters were more likely to
have lower extremity injuries and foot/ankle
injuries. Figure skaters over the age of 18
years reported acute injuries more than
chronic injuries.

CONCLUSION:

After reviewing the results of this study it
is concluded that most of the figure skaters
(80%) had experienced some injuries during
their career. Surprisingly the participants
had an athletic trainer during practice
(24%) more than competition (17.3%)
regularly. Understanding of most common
injuries and body parts will help to prevent
further injuries. Also these information can
be used for the off-season strength and
conditioning for the purpose of prevention.