PREVALENCE AND FEATURES OF JOINT HYPERMOBILITY IN ADOLESCENT ATHLETES

Objective: To determine the prevalence of joint hypermobility in a group of adolescent, interscholastic athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional; Descriptive/ observational.

Setting: Free preparticipation physical examinations for sports.

Subjects: 264 athletes (150 male, 114 female, average age 15.5) comprised the entire set of athletes who came to our clinic for free physicals.

Intervention/Main Outcome Measures: We screened 264 athletes using the widely accepted Carter-Wilkinson-Beighton method, which examines range of motion at the knees, trunk, fingers, thumbs, and elbows bilaterally, and employs a 0-9 scoring scheme (5/9 = hypermobile). We also used an "injury allowance," whereby if an athlete screened positive for only one side of a bilateral test but had a history of injury to the corresponding side, they were given an injury allowance point.

Results: Thirty-two scored 5 or higher, with another two positive by means of the injury allowance, for a total of 34 (12.9%) hypermobiles. There was a highly significant (p<0.001) difference between genders, with 25 females (22%) and 9 males (6%) testing positive.

Conclusions: The overall prevalence of hypermobility and the significant gender difference found in this group of adolescent athletes were similar to nonathlete populations of comparable age. Research on nonathletes has been relied upon by many to recommend that hypermobile individuals avoid strenuous physical activity; however, research on athletes is less than conclusive. Given that a significant segment of young athletes, especially females, may be hypermobile, prospective studies are warranted to investigate this question before we can justify depriving hypermobiles of the many known benefits of regular/strenuous exercise.

1997 Decoster LC, Vailas JC, Lindsay RH, Williams GR: Prevalence and features of joint hypermobility in adolescent athletes. Arch Ped & Adol Med, 151, October.