Risk factors associated with alpine skiing injuries in children - A case-control study

We investigated the relative contribution of four risk factors to the occur rence of injuries among alpine skiers aged 12 years and younger (3 to 12 ye ars old; mean age, 9.43 years). The risk factors selected were deficient bi nding adjustment, absence of formal training, low skill level, and use of r ented equipment. A group of injured skiers (N = 41) and a control group of uninjured skiers (N = 313) were recruited among young skiers at one major a lpine ski center in the Quebec City, Canada, area during the 1995 to 1996 s eason. No significant group differences were found for mean age or sex dist ribution. The adjusted odds ratios for injury were 7.54 (95% confidence int erval [2.57, 22.15]) for skiers in the low level of skill category relative to highly skilled skiers, 7.14 (2.59, 19.87) for skiers who rented their s ki equipment compared with skiers who owned their equipment, and 2.11 (1.02 , 4.33) for skiers with ill-adjusted bindings compared with skiers with bet ter-adjusted bindings. Only formal training did not meet the 0.05 significa nce level for entry into the model; this is probably because of methodologi c limitations. Implications of these results for the development of a preve ntion program aimed at young skiers are discussed.