Knee Injuries Among Young Adult Skiers: Elucidating The Relationship Between Age And Injury Location

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 600,000 skiing-related injuries occur annually in the US, with knee injuries being the most common. While prior research has examined knee injuries by age, the association between skier age and the likelihood that a skiing injury is actually a knee injury has not been investigated. Understanding the risk of knee injuries while skiing is critical for athletes to manage their risk. PURPOSE: Our goal was to assess the relationship between skier age and injury location, comparing the likelihood that a skiing injury is a knee injury across age groups. METHODS: Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (2019 - 2023) was used to sum injuries for 13 regions of the limbs. These totals were broken out for each age group in 20-year tranches. Chi-Squared analysis was used to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables, and the proportion of injuries for each body region out of all limb injuries was calculated and compared for each age bucket. RESULTS: The analysis showed a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.01) between the age and injury location. Skiers aged 20 - 39 had the greatest chance of their limb injury originating at the knee, challenging assumptions that older demographics are most at risk of knee injuries. For those 20 - 39, 39% of all skiing-related limb injuries were knee injuries, compared to just 34% for those aged 40 - 59 and 20% for those aged 60 - 79. CONCLUSIONS: Skiers aged 20 - 39 are most likely to sustain knee injuries when skiing-related injuries occur. Despite assumptions that older skiers may be at greater risk due to increased joint wear and instability or weaker lower body muscles, young skiers should be aware of their elevated risk. 13 patients in this dataset had notes featuring the words “jump” or “fast”, all of which were in the 20 - 39 age group. This information suggests that it is possible the increased incidence of knee injuries in younger skiers is partially attributed to riskier skiing behaviors. - Skiing-Related Limb Injuries by Body Part and Age Group (% of Injuries Per Age Group in Parentheses) <20 Y.O.(n = 875) 20 - 39 Y.O.(n = 647) 40 - 59 Y.O.(n = 416) 60 - 79 Y.O.(n = 197) 80+ Y.O.(n = 4) All Ages(n = 2,139) Ankle 47 (5%) 27 (4%) 24 (6%) 12 (6%) 0 (0%) 110 (5%) Elbow 25 (3%) 13 (2%) 8 (2%) 3 (2%) 1 (25%) 50 (2%) Finger 43 (5%) 26 (4%) 18 (4%) 8 (4%) 0 (0%) 95 (4%) Foot 16 (2%) 5 (1%) 4 (1%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 26 (1%) Hand 12 (1%) 19 (3%) 7 (2%) 3 (2%) 0 (0%) 41 (2%) Knee 183 (21%) 254 (39%) 140 (34%) 40 (20%) 0 (0%) 617 (29%) Lower Arm 55 (6%) 12 (2%) 4 (1%) 7 (4%) 0 (0%) 78 (4%) Lower Leg 178 (20%) 90 (14%) 72 (17%) 28 (14%) 1 (25%) 369 (17%) Shoulder 138 (16%) 140 (22%) 85 (20%) 45 (23%) 2 (50%) 410 (19%) Toe 3 (0%) 4 (1%) 2 (0%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 10 (0%) Upper Arm 33 (4%) 16 (2%) 17 (4%) 17 (9%) 0 (0%) 83 (4%) Upper Leg 54 (6%) 16 (2%) 11 (3%) 7 (4%) 0 (0%) 88 (4%) Wrist 88 (10%) 25 (4%) 24 (6%) 25 (13%) 0 (0%) 162 (8%)