The effect of length of sport experience on the prevalence of non-specific back pain and injury in soccer and ice hockey

Background: Back pain is one of the most common health problems not only in the general population but also in athletes. However, there is a lack of evidence-based findings on the dose-response effect of athletic training on back pain and injuries. The aim of this study was to determine whether training experience affects the intensity of back pain and the number of injuries in moderate-to-high performance team sport athletes. Methods: A total of 147 male soccer players (age 27.8 +/- 5.9 y; training experience 17.2 +/- 5.6 y) and 179 male ice hockey players (age 29.2 +/- 5.9 y; training experience 20.5 +/- 6.1 y) were asked to complete questionnaires focusing on back pain and injuries: Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Results: Spearman correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between length of training experience and the occurrence of thoracic pain (p=0.005), low back pain (p=0.016), thoracic injuries (p=0.006), and ODI (p=0.007) in soccer players. In hockey players, training duration was significantly correlated with low back pain (p<0.001) and injuries (=0.006), ODI (p<0.001), affective dimension (p<0.001), evaluative dimension (p=0.002), miscellaneous dimension (p=0.027), and total MPQ (p=0.029). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the length of training experience is another important factor influencing low back pain. Therefore, it is necessary to focus more attention on more experienced players and to include significantly more compensatory exercises and recovery time in their training process.