Risk factors associated with serious ski patrol-reported injuries sustained by skiers and snowboarders in snow-parks and on other slopes.

BACKGROUND

Over the past years, the rate of injuries sustained at the alpine ski hills in Québec significantly increased. This raises concern over a possible increase in risk of severe injuries associated with snow-park use. The main objective of this study was to examine the severity of injuries sustained by skiers and snowboarders in snow-parks compared with other slopes from 2001 to 2005.

METHODS

A case-control study design was used. Subjects were injured skiers and snowboarders who reported to the ski patrol with an injury. Two sets of severely injured cases were defined based on the type of injury and ambulance evacuation. Injured controls were those who did not sustain severe injuries. 50,593 injury report forms were analyzed. A logistic regression analysis was performed to relate the severity of injury to the type of slope used when the injury occurred. All analyses were controlling for age, sex, skill level, helmet use, season, and type of activity.

RESULTS

There was evidence to suggest that, for skiers (adjusted OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.21-1.53) and snowboarders (adjusted OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.23), participation in a snow-park increased the risk of being evacuated by ambulance. Severe injuries in skiers were also more likely to occur in snow-parks, but snowboarders had similar risk of severe injury in snow-parks and on other slopes.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide evidence that the type of activities performed in snow-parks may increase the risk of sustaining a severe injury compared with participation on other slopes.