Mr Jamie Ranse: Research Coordinator, Intensive Care Unit Chief Nursing Officer, St John Ambulance Australia

Dr Nick Taylor: Registrar, Emergency Department

Mountain Biking Events:

Presentation Characteristics and

Medical Needs

Overview

• Background

• Objectives

• Method

• Results

• Discussion

Background

• Mountain biking increasing in popularity

• North American and European studies

– Incidence of injury

– Gender

– Injury type

Objectives

• Evaluate injury type and frequency, and factors influencing these, in Australian mountain bike riders.

• Evaluate the adequacy of health service provision

• Hypothesis: – Ambient temperature affects injury frequency,

– Track congestion affects injury frequency,

– Gender affects injury frequency.

Method

• Setting

• Population and sample

• Data collection

• Validity and Reliability

• Data Analysis

– Presentations frequency (presentations per kilometre ridden)

– Ambient temperature

– Track congestion • (meters per ridder = track length / number of riders on track)

– Gender

• Ethics

8 years

14777 riders

673 presented to St John Ambulance Australia

Results

Results

0

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 0

6 0

07

00

-0

80

0

08

00

-0

90

0

09

00

-1

00

0

10

00

-1

10

0

11

00

-1

20

0

12

00

-1

30

0

13

00

-1

40

0

14

00

-1

50

0

15

00

-1

60

0

16

00

-1

70

0

17

00

-1

80

0

18

00

-1

90

0

19

00

-2

00

0

20

00

-2

10

0

21

00

-2

20

0

22

00

-2

30

0

23

00

-2

40

0

00

00

-0

10

0

01

00

-0

20

0

02

00

-0

30

0

03

00

-0

40

0

04

00

-0

50

0

05

00

-0

60

0

06

00

-0

70

0

07

00

-0

80

0

08

00

-0

90

0

09

00

-1

00

0

10

00

-1

10

0

11

00

-1

20

0

12

00

-1

30

0

13

00

-1

40

0

14

00

-1

50

0

15

00

-1

60

0

ResultsAustralian 24 hour mountain bike championships: Riders entered

and presentation frequencies per year.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

En

tere

d r

iders

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Km

rid

den

per

pre

sen

tati

on

Female riders

Male riders

Presentation frequency

Injury rate of females was different to males (p=0.032)

Results

Results

Results

• 0.25% referred to hospital (1 every 1990km ridden)

• 0.06% referred to hospital by ambulance (1 every 36000km)

Results

Congestion vs Presentation Frequency

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

0 50 100 150

Metres available to each rider

(congestion)

km

rid

den

/pre

sen

tati

on

km ridden/injury vs

congestion

Linear (km ridden/injury

vs congestion)

R=0.889

p=0.003

Results

Presentation Frequency vs Average Temperature

(8hours)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

km/presentation

Avera

ge t

em

pera

ture

over

8 h

ou

rs

(deg

rees C

)

Temperature:

R=0.78

p=<0.001

Humidity:

R=0.53

p=0.02

Limitations

• No data was collected regarding rider skill level or mechanism

of injury

• High injury frequency in the first 8 hours may be due to a

number of unmeasured factors

• Difficult to separate individual strength of effect - the hottest

part of the race was also the most congested

Discussion

• Mountain biking is a safe sport

• Findings:

– Gender differences

– Types of presentations

– Track congestion

– Weather

• Recommendations

– Riding Practice

– Medical needs

– Research

This research was funded by a

St John Ambulance Australia

research grant.

Mr Jamie RanseResearch Coordinator

Intensive Care Unit

The Canberra Hospital

Chief Nursing Officer

St John Ambulance Australia

Dr Nicholas TaylorEmergency Registrar

The Canberra Hospital