【Introduction】Psychosocial factor is one of the common etiologic factors that lead to sports injuries. In Japan, verbal abuse and physical violence from coaches have been a long lasting issue that resulted in psychological distress and burdens for many children engaged in sports activity. We hypothesized that joint or limb pain at multiple sites of children engaged in regular competitive sports activities may be associated with verbal abuse and physical violence from coaches.
【Methods】A cross-sectional survey for children engaged in regular competitive sports activities registered in Junior Sports Clubs in Miyagi Prefecture in year 2013 was conducted. Out of 26,069 eligible members, 5,560 participated in the questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was used to assess the presence or absence of joint and limb pains with their location and duration. Inquiry for whether they or their colleagues have experienced verbal abuse or physical violence from coaches was included together with potential confounding factors such as their age, sex, BMI, grades, the competition level of the team, weekly frequency of activity, daily duration of activity, subjective perception of toughness or hardship of regular activities, if they had appropriate time for breaks, and if they had someone who could ask for advise. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relation between pain at two or more sites and the experience of verbal abuse and physical violence from coaches.
【Results】The number of children with pain was 1,463(26.3%), and the number of children with pain at two or more sites was 803(14.4%). The numbers of children who experienced verbal abuse or physical violence from coaches were 1,213(21.8%) and 713(12.8%), respectively. As compared with children who received no verbal abuse from coaches, children who experienced verbal abuse had higher odds of having pain at two or more sites (Odds Ratio[OR]=1.39, 95%confidence intervals[95%CI]=1.16-1.66, P<0.001). As compared with children who experienced no physical violence, children who experienced physical violence had higher odds of having pain at two or more sites (OR=1.32, 95%CI=1.06-1.65, P=0.013).
【Conclusions】The experience of verbal abuse or physical violence from coaches was positively associated with the presence of pain at multiple joints and limbs.
Kaoru Kuroki, Yoshihiro Hagiwara, Yutaka Yabe, Kenji Kanazawa, Masashi Koide,
Nobuyuki Itaya, Takuya Sekiguchi, Masahiro Tsuchiya、Haruki Monma、Ryoichi Nagatomi
