Investigation of Injury Anxiety in Cross-Country Skiers

The aim of this study is to examine the sports injury anxiety levels in cross-country skiers. A total of 34 athletes (15 girls, 19 boys) with a mean age of 15.24 +/- 2.72 years participated voluntarily in this cross-sectional and descriptive study. The Sports Injury Anxiety Scale was used to detect the sports injury anxiety levels of athletes. When the sports injury anxiety levels of the athletes were compared between the gender, no statistically significant difference was found (p > .05). When the sociodemographic characteristics of the athletes were compared with the sports injury anxiety scale sub-dimension scores, a moderately positive relationship was found between age and re-injury anxiety (p = .045; r = .524) sub-dimension scores. No significant relationship was found between gender, body mass index, year of sport, and sport injury anxiety levels (p > .05). In conclusion, the most common knee, hip, and elbow injuries are seen in adolescent athletes in cross-country skiing, which requires high effort in both upper and lower extremity muscles, and the level of re-injury anxiety may increase in athletes with advancing age. For the continuity of the active sports life of the athletes, intervention methods that will minimize anxiety levels should be used as well as the prevention and treatment of injuries.