The comparison between the injured and non-injured retired professional athletes’ quality of life
Poster Presentation , Page 273-273 (1)
Full Text (362.09 K)
Paper ID : 1006-SPORTCONGR
Authors
1Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran
2Master of art in Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran
3PhD Student, Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Participation in (professional) sport has many physical and psychological benefits, but there is also an inherent risk of injury (1) so that many athletes experience at least one significant injury during their career (2). Research has shown that injuries are a significant cause of retirement for professional athletes (3, 4). Additionally, it is believed that career-ending injuries may cause athletes to experience serious distress in their retirement (1, 2, 3, 4). Considering the multifaceted impacts of sport injuries on retired athletes, there is a need to examine the impact of injuries on retired athletes’ quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to compare the QoL among the retired professional athletes who ended their career due to: 1) sport injuries and 2) other reasons (age, deselection, free choice and etc.).
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional comparative study. Statistical population included all male retired professional athletes in Isfahan province. 153 of them were selected by snowball sampling and paricipated in this study (injured group=36 and non-injured group=117). The World Health Organization QoL questionnaire -short form- was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and independent t-test) statistical methods were used to analyze the data (SPSS26).
Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in domain of Physical (t=1.55, df= 151, sig=0.12), Psychological (t=1.2, df=151, sig=0.22), Social relationships (t=1.68, df=151, sig=0.09), Environment health (t=1.17, df=151, sig=0.24) and overall quality of life and general health (t=0.17, df=151, sig=0.86).
Conclusion: Sport injuries in retired athletes has been associated with distress and reduced QoL (1, 3) but our results show that positive impacts of sport, positive sporting memories and accomplishment may prevent the negative implications of injuries. Accordingly, we suggest that clubs, sports organization and authorities in order to promote the Qol of retired athletes support all of them regardless of their health or injury.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional comparative study. Statistical population included all male retired professional athletes in Isfahan province. 153 of them were selected by snowball sampling and paricipated in this study (injured group=36 and non-injured group=117). The World Health Organization QoL questionnaire -short form- was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and independent t-test) statistical methods were used to analyze the data (SPSS26).
Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in domain of Physical (t=1.55, df= 151, sig=0.12), Psychological (t=1.2, df=151, sig=0.22), Social relationships (t=1.68, df=151, sig=0.09), Environment health (t=1.17, df=151, sig=0.24) and overall quality of life and general health (t=0.17, df=151, sig=0.86).
Conclusion: Sport injuries in retired athletes has been associated with distress and reduced QoL (1, 3) but our results show that positive impacts of sport, positive sporting memories and accomplishment may prevent the negative implications of injuries. Accordingly, we suggest that clubs, sports organization and authorities in order to promote the Qol of retired athletes support all of them regardless of their health or injury.
Keywords
Retirement; Professional retired athletes; Retirement course’ quality of life; Career ending injuries
Subjects