Injury and Fatality Risk in Climbing

[Quinn]

A new study published Aug 2010 in Sports Medicine looked at the injury rate of all forms of climbing (including ice and mountaineering) looking at data from over 400+ studies. This may be of interest to the general community, and also leaders looking to set up climbing walls, clubs, etc. The conclusion of the authors is that "Sport and indoor-climbing, including competitions, cannot be considered as high-risk sporting activities." The following is the study abstract and an interesting table from the paper comparing climbing to other sports. Unfortunately, trad climbing 20 years ago is by far the most dangerous style of climbing... be careful out there Roger!!

Abstract

Rock and ice climbing are widely considered to be ‘high-risk’ sporting
activities that are associated with a high incidence of severe injury and even
death, compared with more mainstream sports. However, objective scientific
data to support this perception are questionable. Accordingly, >400 sportspecific
injury studies were analysed and compared by quantifying the injury
incidence and objectively grading the injury severity (using the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics score) per 1000 hours of sporting
participation. Fatalities were also analysed. The analysis revealed that fatalities
occurred in all sports, but it was not always clear whether the sport itself or
pre-existing health conditions contributed or caused the deaths. Bouldering
(ropeless climbing to low heights), sport climbing (mostly bolt protected lead
climbing with little objective danger) and indoor climbing (climbing indoors
on artificial rock structures), showed a small injury rate, minor injury severity
and few fatalities. As more objective/external dangers exist for alpine and ice
climbing, the injury rate, injury severity and fatality were all higher. Overall,
climbing sports had a lower injury incidence and severity score than many
popular sports, including basketball, sailing or soccer; indoor climbing
ranked the lowest in terms of injuries of all sports assessed. Nevertheless, a
fatality risk remains, especially in alpine and ice climbing. In the absence of a
standard definition for a ‘high-risk’ sport, categorizing climbing as a high-risk
sport was found to be either subjective or dependent on the definition used. In
conclusion, this analysis showed that retrospective data on sport-specific injuries
and fatalities are not reported in a standardized manner. To improve
preventative injury measures for climbing sports, it is recommended that a
standardized, robust and comprehensive sport-specific scoring model should
be developed to report and fully evaluate the injury risk, severity of injuries
and fatality risk in climbing sports.

[Quinn]

Also, I'm not sure how many of you are involved in competition handball, but watch out - it's injury rate is 632 times higher than indoor climbing!

The reference for any interested is:

Evaluation of Injury and Fatality Risk in Rock and Ice Climbing. Sports Med 2010; 40 (8): 657-679

[martha]

I hope that the insurance companies get a hold of this article. Perhaps it will help changed their opinion of climbing and how to offer life insurance to those of us who do.

:S

[Seb]

Hey Dave,

I just wanted to make sure that I understand the table correctly. The “injuries per 1000 hours” – is this purely an incidence of all types of injuries or does it also reflect some sort of adjustment in an attempt to account for the severity of injuries? Was there a table that breaks down the incidence of injuries in terms type or severity for each sport? I can’t imagine there are more severe injuries per population size in a given time period for nordic walking than mountaineering. Did you find the paper on PubMed?

Seb

[mick]

In the preface to the article there's mention that certain individuals may be predisposed both to injury types and activities. Nordic walkers, if I may hazard a guess, are probably old and more likely to drop of a heart attack than a college-age boulderer.

Another aspect to control for in a study like this might also be the frequency and reliability of accident reporting. In competition handball, competitors are probably injured in front of witnesses and medics and are quicker to ask for a bandaid as a result. Sport climbers may be more likely to self-diagnose and self-treat injuries like sprained fingers because these are common and recurring conditions that don't often require professional medical assistance.

[john]

do you have a direct link for a online versin of the full article?

[betaburgler]

First there is a poll that lists climbing as a sexy sport, now you're trying to snatch that all away from me with FACTS?

Common Dave, whose side are you on anyway. The researchers who threw this together should be ashamed of themselves. I just hope all the intelligent sexy women out there who perceive climbing as a sexy and dangerous sport don't take this too seriously!

[Quinn]

I thought the sex appeal of climbing came from the harnesses?

[Brian!]

I thought the sex appeal of climbing came from the harnesses?

I thought it was the chalk bag. Women like brightly colored things, cute bird skeletons (Arc'teryx logo), and have a fondness for bags... don't they?





That's not suppose to be as dirty as it seems.

[mathieu]

I am sorry to burst everyone's bubble but ya'll forgot the obsessive nature of climbers. I mean 1 game of hockey lasts 1 hour and you maybe play 25 minutes of that, the rest is on the bench, a day of climbing is 4ish hour of climbing and we all know climbers get as many days in as possible on the week, weekends, holidays, etc... The total hours of practicing the sports climbs up pretty quick therefore the numbers just go up from that. We are all doomed.

[Andrew]

Ya, I'm thinking maybe of hanging up my cams and taking up sidewalking.

I am sorry to burst everyone's bubble but ya'll forgot the obsessive nature of climbers. I mean 1 game of hockey lasts 1 hour and you maybe play 25 minutes of that, the rest is on the bench, a day of climbing is 4ish hour of climbing and we all know climbers get as many days in as possible on the week, weekends, holidays, etc... The total hours of practicing the sports climbs up pretty quick therefore the numbers just go up from that. We are all doomed.