Improved reporting of overuse injuries and health problems in sport: an update of the Oslo Sport Trauma Research Center questionnaires

Correspondence to Dr Benjamin Clarsen, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Oslo 0806, Norway; [email protected]

Introduction

The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC) Overuse Injury Questionnaire was developed to address challenges which arise when using traditional sports injury surveillance methods to document the epidemiology of overuse injuries.¹ Traditionally, most injury surveillance studies used time loss from sport as the primary criterion for defining the occurrence of injury and the duration of time lost as a surrogate measure of injury severity.² This approach underestimates the full impact of overuse injuries because athletes with an overuse injury can often continue to train and compete despite persistent injury-associated symptoms and limitations.³ The OSTRC Overuse Injury Questionnaire contains four domains which seek to evaluate the consequences of overuse injuries on athletes: (1) sports participation, (2) training volume, (3) sports performance and (4) pain (table 1, first column). By administering the questionnaire at regular intervals (eg, weekly), clinicians and researchers are able to monitor how the consequences of overuse injury change over time.

Table 1

Original and updated versions of the OSTRC-O questionnaire, with changes highlighted in red

The OSTRC-O
Original version (OSTRC-O)	Updated version (OSTRC-O2)
Please answer all questions regardless of whether or not you have problems with your knees. Select the alternative that is most appropriate for you, and in the case that you are unsure, try to give an answer as best you can anyway.	Please answer all questions regardless of whether or not you have problems in your(insert anatomical location here, eg, knees). Select the alternative that is most appropriate for you, and in the case that you are unsure, try to answer as best you can anyway.
The term ‘knee problems’ refers to pain, ache, stiffness, swelling, instability/giving way, locking or other complaints related to one or both knees.	The term ‘(location) problems’ refers to (insert common symptoms or injury consequences here, eg, pain, ache, stiffness, clicking/catching, swelling, instability/giving way, locking)or other complaints related to your (location).
Question 1	Question 1—Participation
Have you had any difficulties participating in normal training and competition due to knee problems during the past week?	Have you had any difficulties participating in training and competition due to...