Debbie Palmer

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Senior Lecturer at University of Edinburgh

The sport of Enduro is the newest International Cycling Union sanctioned discipline in mountain biking. There are a number of studies reporting mountain biking injury to date however there are none detailing injuries in Enduro. The aim of the present study was to determine the rate, severity and nature of rider injury during the Enduro World Series...

Objective: To describe the injury and illness characteristics among participating athletes during the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games (YOG 2020), 9-22 January 2020. Methods: The daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses were recorded (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in the poly...

Objective To describe the incidence of injuries and illnesses sustained during the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Methods We recorded the daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in the polyclinic and medical venues by the Tokyo...

Objectives This study aims (1) to determine the prevalence of lower limb osteoarthritis (OA) and pain in retired Olympians; (2) to identify factors associated with their occurrence and (3) to compare with a sample of the general population. Methods 3357 retired Olympians (median 44.7 years) and 1735 general population controls (40.5 years) complet...

Objectives (1) To determine the prevalence of spine and upper limb osteoarthritis (OA) and pain in retired Olympians; (2) identify risk factors associated with their occurrence and (3) compare with a sample of the general population. Methods 3357 retired Olympians (44.7 years) and 1735 general population controls (40.5 years) completed a cross-sec...

Objectives The tackle carries the highest risk of concussion in women’s rugby union. To reduce concussion risk, a lowered maximum tackle height (LTH) law, lowering the maximum legal tackle height from the shoulder to below the base of the sternum, was implemented across Scottish community rugby. This study aimed to assess the effect of the LTH on p...

Background/objectives The tackle has the highest risk and causes the most concussions in rugby union. As such, law variation prevention strategies aiming to reduce head contact have been introduced. This study investigated whether a law variation lowering the maximum legal height of the tackle, from the shoulder to the base of the sternum, was an e...

Objectives: The study provided a comprehensive analysis exploring the association between athletes’ injury characteristics and the choice of physiotherapy treatments applied at the Polyclinic Tokyo 2020. Methods: Data from all physiotherapy treatments offered in the Polyclinic Olympic Village in Tokyo between 13 July and 10 August were recorded ele...

Introduction Mental health and well-being is a relatively under-researched area in rugby, especially outside the elite men’s game. Evidence suggests that physical activity and sports benefit mental health and well-being, and rugby provides health-enhancing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Objective This cross-sectional study used an online...

Objectives This study aims to understand the prevalence, incidence rate, anatomical sites, injury severity and main medical actions carried out during official training and racing by elite downhill mountain biking (DHMTB) riders during the 2023 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Cycling World Championships. Methods The participants of this prospe...

Prevention of sports injury and illness and protection of athlete health are key mandates of the IOC. Methodological limitations in Olympic Games surveillance and retired Olympian studies mean there are gaps in the available evidence on Olympian health and the varied challenges occurring at different stages throughout an athlete’s career. This (pro...

Elite student-athletes (SAs) in higher education (HE) have distinct mental health (MH) risks. The COVID-19 pandemic put pressure on systems and increased elite SA vulnerability to adverse MH outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the provision and management of MH in elite HE sports settings during the time of COVID-19 pandemic stress. The...

Conclusions: We have shown that pathological loading of osteocytes regulates genes that are differentially expressed in osteocytes from males and females. Many of these genes are associated with regulation of the outgrowth and development of the peripheral nervous system with links to neural plasticity and invasion. Such events have been demonstrat...

The sport of cycling consists of several individual sporting disciplines. Indeed, the world governing body for cycling, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), oversees the various cycling disciplines, with each of these disciplines having a number of subcategories. While several sports have undertaken prospective injury surveillance studies to unders...

This review discusses female‐specific health considerations in injury and illness surveillance and provides rugby‐specific recommendations for future surveillance. Identifying priority injury and illness problems by determining those problems with the highest rates within women's rugby may highlight different priorities than sex comparisons between...

Background Ringette is a popular female team ice-sport in Canada, USA, Scandinavia, and Czech Republic. Although bodychecking (i.e., intensive contact with another player to remove them from offensive control of play) is prohibited, high rates of bodychecking and suspected-injury have been reported based on video-analysis. Understanding injury and...

Background Injury rates and patterns in rugby union (rugby) vary between male and female players at international level but limited data exists in the female community level game. Systematic injury surveillance is a prerequisite to effective injury prevention, but current rugby injury prevention initiatives follow a one size fits all approach based...

Introduction Downhill Mountain Biking (DHMTB) is one of the more spectacular sub-disciplines of mountain bike (MTB) cycling. The primary aim of our study was to prospectively document the injury rate, severity, aetiology, location and type during official training and racing by elite DHMTB riders during the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Met...

Objective To describe the first injury and to investigate whether it plays a role in altering athletics’ sustainable practice. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using an exploratory survey on the first injury and its consequences on athletics practice. In 2021, we asked all high-level athletes licensed with the French Federation of Athl...

Objective The objective of this study is to describe the incidence of injuries and illnesses sustained during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games from 4 February 2022 to 20 February 2022. Methods We recorded the daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in th...

Video analysis is a useful tool for injury surveillance in rugby union. There are few video analysis studies in the professional female game, with most studies published in the male elite/professional settings. Moreover, there is a sparsity of literature in youth rugby settings. The following narrative review outlines the strengths and limitations...

The IOC made recommendations for recording and reporting epidemiological data on injuries and illness in sports in 2020, but with little, if any, focus on female athletes. Therefore, the aims of this supplement to the IOC consensus statement are to (i) propose a taxonomy for categorisation of female athlete health problems across the lifespan; (ii)...

Fifteen-a-side rugby union (“rugby”) is a full-contact sport played separately by men and women, with large injury incidences reported previously. Context specific injury surveillance fulfils governing bodies’ duty of care to understand risks to player welfare, yet no contemporary match injury epidemiology studies exist for international players in...

Background Rugby Union is a collision team sport played globally. Despite this, significant concerns have been raised regarding the sport’s safety, particularly in youth players. Given this, a review of injury rates, risk factors and prevention strategies is required across different youth age groups as well as in males and females. Objective The...

Background The relationship between Olympic career sport injury and the long-term musculoskeletal health of the elite athlete remains unclear. This study describes the lifetime prevalence of medical attention injuries that occurred during training and/or competition as part of the athlete’s Olympic career, reasons for retirement from Olympic sport,...

The Retired Olympian Musculoskeletal Health Study (ROMHS) cohort: recruitment of 3,357 Olympians and 1,735 general population controls

A cross-sectional study of low back pain among retired international athletes (runners, swimmers, rowers, and hockey players)

Epidemiology of injury and retirement from sport among former international athletes

Background Prevention of low back pain (LBP) requires the identification of modifiable risk factors. Currently there is limited evidence of these risk factors in current and retired athletic populations. Objective To determine the prevalence and factors associated with LBP among retired international athletes (runners, swimmers, rowers, and hockey...

Background Elite athletes are exposed to high physiological training and competition loads and associated increased injury risk. While there is a wealth of evidence reporting the prevalence of injuries seasonally and during major games events, there are few studies examining injury risk across an elite athlete’s entire sporting-career. Objective R...

Background There are numerous studies describing elite athlete injury patterns seasonally and during major sporting events, however little is known about injury patterns during an elite athlete’s entire sporting career. Objective To describe Olympic-career related significant (≥30 days duration) injuries. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting T...

Background Training volume has been shown to influence injury risk in elite Rugby Union players. Objective To investigate the influence of training volume on injury risk in elite Scottish Rugby Union players. Design A prospective, observational cohort study design was adopted to collect training volume (hours) and injury data (training and match...

Background The sport of Enduro is the newest Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctioned discipline in mountain biking and there has been a surge in its popularity and participation. Although there are a number of studies reporting mountain biking injury the study methods vary widely, there are few at elite level, and there are none currently de...

Background High-level athletes are at an increased injury risk. Yet relatively little is known about the prevalence of career-ending injuries in high-level sport. Objective To determine in retired international athletes: (1) the prevalence of significant injury and early retirement, and (2) if those with generalised joint hypermobility (GJH) are m...

Background Cervical musculature function (strength, endurance, and proprioception) may be a modifiable risk factor for concussion in contact sports. The ability to enhance neck function and reduce concussive risk needs to be determined. Objective To assess the efficacy of a training programme to enhance neck function and lower match concussion inj...

Background Injury incidence in professional rugby union tends to be greater than other team sports. Epidemiological studies are required to describe injury occurrence and inform injury prevention measures. Objective To analyse injuries sustained by professional rugby union players in Scotland. Design Prospective observational. Setting Time-loss...

This study determined the point prevalence and factors associated with low back pain (LBP) in retired Great Britain’s (GB) Olympians. Six hundred and thirteen retired athletes completed a cross-sectional survey. Prevalence of LBP (pain on most days in the past 4-weeks) was 32.1%. LBP was associated with a prior significant low back injury [aOR 2.51...

Background Ankle sprains are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries, accounting for up to 5% of all Emergency Department visits in the United Kingdom. Ankle injury may be associated with future ankle osteoarthritis. Up to 70% of ankle osteoarthritis cases may be associated with previous ankle injury. There is limited research regarding the...

Objective Describe the self-reported prevalence and nature of Olympic-career injury and general health and current residual symptoms in a self-selected sample of retired Olympians. Methods 3357 retired Olympians from 131 countries completed a cross-sectional online survey, distributed by direct email through World Olympians Association and Nationa...

Background This observational research study analyses the uptake of physical therapies treatments in the Polyclinic during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Objective To describe the usage of physical therapies services – physical therapy, osteopath, chiropractic, and sports massage – by athletes and non-athletes and across different sports. Methods Th...

Objective To describe the incidence of injuries and illnesses sustained during the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, hosted by PyeongChang on 9–25 February 2018. Methods We recorded the daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in the polyclinic and medical venu...

Background Knowledge of the epidemiology and potentially modifiable factors associated with musculoskeletal disease is an important first step in injury prevention among elite athletes. Aim This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with pain and osteoarthritis (OA) at the hip and knee in Great Britain’s (GB) Olympians aged 40 a...

Background The impracticalities and comparative expense of carrying out a clinical assessment is an obstacle in many large epidemiological studies. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a series of electronic self-reported line drawing instruments based on the modified Beighton scoring system for the assessment of self-reported gene...

Objective To describe the pattern of injuries and illnesses sustained during the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, hosted by Rio de Janeiro from 5 to 21 August 2016. Methods We recorded the daily incidence of athlete injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in the polyclinic and medic...

Background Relatively little is known about the risk factors associated with osteoarthritis (OA) in Olympic athletes. As the first step towards prevention, knowledge of preventative/modifiable risk factors are needed. Objective To examine injury patterns, prevalence, and risk factors for OA in Great Britain's Olympians, aged 40 years and older. D...

Purpose: affecting approximately one in four adults over the age of 40 years in the UK, knee pain is the most common presenting feature of osteoarthritis (OA). Despite the plethora of studies that have investigated the factors associated with the onset of knee pain in the sedentary population, relatively little is known about the prevalence and occ...

Purpose: Individuals with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) are reported, in the clinical setting, to be at greater risk of developing musculoskeletal related joint pain, joint dislocations and tendinopathies. It is hypothesized that impaired static and dynamic neuromuscular movement control in those with GJH is responsible for contributing to...

There has been no comprehensive injury report of elite-level amateur boxers in competition and training. We reviewed injuries in training and competition in the Great Britain (GB) amateur boxing squad between 2005 and 2009. Longitudinal, prospective injury surveillance over 5 years of the GB boxing squad from 2005 to 2009. 66 boxers passed through...

Covering the latest topics and including case studies of common sports and exercise medicine conditions, the ABC of Sports and Exercise Medicine is an essential practical guide for general practitioners, family physicians, junior doctors, medical students, physiotherapists, and all health professionals dealing with the treatment and prevention of s...

Systematic surveillance of injuries and illnesses is the foundation for developing preventive measures in sport. To analyse the injuries and illnesses that occurred during the XXII Olympic Winter Games, held in Sochi in 2014. We recorded the daily occurrence (or non-occurrence) of injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Oly...

All rugby training activities carry an injury risk, but in the training environment these injury risks should be more controllable than during matches. To (1) describe the incidence, severity, anatomic location, and type of youth rugby training injuries; (2) determine the injury events and type of training activities associated with injuries; and (...

Sports injury and illness surveillance is the first step in injury and illness prevention, and is important for the protection of both athlete health and performance in major competitions. To identify the prevalence, severity nature and causes of athlete injuries and illnesses in the Great Britain Olympic Team (TeamGB) during the Sochi 2014 Winter...

Prevention of injury and illness in elite sport can have not only athlete health benefits but also potential positive performance gains. As the first step towards prevention, valid injury/illness surveillance data is needed. Provide injury/illness epidemiology information on the Great Britain (GB) short-track speed skating squad. Longitudinal prosp...

Prevention of injury in elite sport can have not only athlete health benefits but also potential positive performance gains. As the first step towards prevention, valid injury surveillance data is needed. Provide injury epidemiology information on the British Cycling squad (road/track endurance; track sprint; MTB; BMX). Longitudinal prospective sur...

Injury and illness prevention can have not only athlete health benefits but also potential positive performance gains in elite sport. Valid injury/illness surveillance data is needed in the first step towards prevention. Provide injury/illness epidemiology information on the British Skeleton squad. Longitudinal prospective surveillance study, recor...

Background: The Olympic Movement Medical Code encourages all stakeholders to ensure that sport is practised without danger to the health of the athletes. Systematic surveillance of injuries and illnesses is the foundation for developing preventive measures in sport. Aim: To analyse the injuries and illnesses that occurred during the Games of the...

Background The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games involved 10 568 elite athletes representing 204 competing nations. To manage the varied healthcare needs of this diverse population, a Polyclinic was constructed in the athletes’ village. Aim This work aims to summarise the usage of the Polyclinic by competing athletes and the facilities available to...

Background: Numerous injury epidemiology studies have reported injury patterns in senior rugby union, but investigations in youth rugby are limited. Purpose: To describe the nature of injuries resulting from match play within the English youth rugby union, including a comparison between 2 levels of play within the same age group: professional ac...

. Describing the frequency, severity, and causes of sports injuries and illnesses reliably is important for quantifying the risk to athletes and providing direction for prevention initiatives. Methods . Time-loss and/or medical-attention definitions have long been used in sports injury/illness epidemiology research, but the limitations to these def...

Background Prevention of injury and illness in elite sport can have not only athlete health benefits but also potential positive performance gains. As the first step towards prevention, valid injury/illness surveillance data is needed. Objective Develop and implement a valid and sensitive multisport surveillance model for elite sport in Great Brit...