Epidemiological study of injuries in artistic swimming: a systematic review

Ane Begoñe Rincón ^1,2 Alfonso Trinidad ^1,2* Alejandro López-Valenciano ^3,4

• ¹ European University of Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain
• ² Departamento de Educación e Innovación Educativa, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Asturias, Spain
• ³ Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, Spain
• ⁴ Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Comunicación, CEU, Castellón de la Plana, Spain

Artistic swimming is a highly technical sport that requires a large volume of training and forced positions that generate a high risk of injury. Objective: to compile scientific evidence on the incidence of injuries in artistic swimming.Literature study: PubMed, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus databases were used to search for studies that analysed the epidemiology of injuries in artistic swimmers of any age and gender until June 2024. Methodology: the methodological quality of the studies was analysed with the Strengthening the Reporting Scale of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PRISMA) were followed. Synthesis: eleven studies met the inclusion criteria showing a clear trend of joint-ligament or muscle-tendon injuries in the shoulders, back, and knees. Conclusions: despite the publication of an injury surveillance document and a consensus on data collection and injury surveillance, there are methodological limitations that do not allow firm conclusions to be drawn. More epidemiological studies that follow data collection and injury surveillance guidelines are needed to establish differences by gender, age groups, and test.