Background: Sport injuries are typically viewed as an unavoidable component of being an elite athlete. Within physiotherapy, increasing focus is being placed on using a biopsychosocial model to understand pre- and post-injury factors. Adventure and traditional sports are different by nature and yet still sit together under the same definition of sport. Previous physiotherapy research examining injury experience is limited and has not explored differences between personal and situational factors of the athletes who partake in these differing sports. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the impact on injury experience created by potential differences of personal and situational elements between adventure and traditional athletes. Trends were then discussed in relation to current clinical practice in physiotherapy. This study lays the foundation for future research. Method: This study uses a Hermeneutic phenomenological approach to investigate the lived experience of ten elite adventure and traditional athletes. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Results: The traditional and adventure athletes in this study had both similarities and differences. The two sub-groups are motivated by separate things, have a dissimilar relationship with the physical environment, and respond differently when facing discontinued play. Financial support also varied between groups. Similarities included the presence of fear through rehabilitation, the acceptance of risk, and sentiments about control. Discussion: Both similarities and differences in personal and situational factors arose from the narratives recounted by adventure and traditional athletes. Current literature describes physiotherapy approaches used for rehabilitation; however, it does not distinguish there use between subtypes of athletes. Goal setting, patient education, group sessions and rehabilitation in greenspaces are all approaches that are currently used by physiotherapists. The discussion looks at these topics in relation to the results of the study and suggests potential avenues to utilise these treatment approaches with traditional and adventure athletes. The psychological components of injury and rehabilitation are also discussed alongside current limitations of physiotherapists in using psychological tools. Conclusion: Adventure and traditional athletes need to be viewed as individual patient populations based on vast differences in sport, as well as the varying personal and situational factors that play a role in injury experience. Understanding both the similar and contrasting personal and situational factors between groups could help physiotherapists provide more effective, patient-centred care. Further research is needed to investigate these elements. Such research could focus on how varying rehabilitation approaches could work with these differing populations. Additionally, this study found that increased psychological training for physiotherapists could provide elite athletes with support in addressing some of the personal and situation factors relating to injury.
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Clark, Emma
Rights Holders: Clark, Emma Supervisors: Williams, Mark
Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work
MSc Physiotherapy (Pre-Registration)
2021
© Clark, Emma Published by Oxford Brookes UniversityAll rights reserved