Background:The rise in global popularity of triathlon competition requires the medicalteam to be familiar with variousendurance sport related injuries that may sustain throughout the race period. However, there have been very few published studies on the injury profiles of triathlon events heldlocally.
Objective: To describethe injury rate, the pattern of injuries, andtime of presentation for medical treatment among injured athletes at theultra-distancetriathlonevent held in Malaysiain year 2014.
Methodology:This cross-sectional studyanalyseddata from allathletes who sustained the injury that required treatment or assessment by the medical personnelduring or immediately after the triathlon race. Data on injured athletes were retrieved from Medical Encounter Form used during the race. All physical injurieswere documented based on body part affected, type of injury sustained and time of medical treatment sought.
Results: Approximately 30.7% (329/1073) of the athletes in our study population presented to the medical team for treatment during or immediately after the event, with 539 injuriesidentified among them. Injuries were more commonly seen among male, age group of 30–39 years old, and Asian athletes. The injuries more commonly sustained during the running discipline. Muscle cramps, sprains, and nausea and/or vomiting were the most common type of injury across all race disciplines. There was an apparent increasedin athlete presentation from 15:00 hours, and it remained high until 23:00 hours.
Conclusion: There was a wide range of injuries encountered by the competitors. Our resultswill add to the growing body of knowledge on local triathlon injuriesand helps the medicalteampreparation for future triathlon events.