| Summary: | 碩士 === 臺北醫學大學 === 傷害防治學研究所 === 91 === Injuries are one of the major health concerns among indigenous peoples. Past research on adolescent sports injuries in Taiwan studied either the general student population as a whole, or aboriginal students in particular, but no comparisons had been made. This was the first study to collect data that might identify differences between the two groups.
This study examined physical activity patterns and investigated the correlates of sports injuries among aboriginal adolescents in Taipei City, Taiwan. In 2002, there were 727 aboriginal adolescents, from fifth to ninth grade, enrolled in 103 elementary schools and 74 junior high schools in Taipei City. Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to all of these aboriginal adolescents and also to a control group of non-aboriginal counterparts of the same gender and similar academic achievement. Major items on the questionnaire addressed physical activity patterns in which the students had engaged in the past two weeks and any sports injuries and/or musculoskeletal symptoms they may have experienced in the past three months. In total, 558 aboriginal and 488 non-aboriginal students were recruited with a response rate of 77% and 67% respectively.
Findings from this study indicated that 90% of aboriginal subjects reported engaging in exercise apart from their regular two-hour per week physical education course. The most common types of physical activities aboriginals engaged in the preceding two weeks were basketball, running and stair climbing. Aboriginal students and their non-aboriginal counterparts showed no significant difference in the types of physical activities they engaged in over a two-week period except dancing and mountain climbing. Approximately 44% of aboriginals had reported experiencing sports or recreation injuries during the school term. The most common types of injuries were sprains or strains, eccymoses, and contusions. The most frequent injury sites were the hands, knees, and ankles. According to multiple logistic regression analysis, the following factors were significantly associated with subjects’ sports or recreation-related injuries: being male (OR=1.62；95%CI=1.25—2.11) ; joining a school team (OR=1.57；95%CI=1.14—2.17); and the amount of exercise (OR=1.24；95%CI=1.08—1.43).
We conducted telephone follow-up interviews with 371 of the aboriginal students after about half a year. Roughly 84% of them thought that sports injuries were preventable most of the time. In this regard, there were no differences between ethnic groups. When asked to identify specifically dangerous exercises, over half of the subjects lacked this sort of knowledge, also with no ethnic difference in this regard. Approximately 56% of aboriginals did exercise longer than one hour per session. About 60% of them preferred vigorous exercise. They exercised an average of seven days in the past two weeks. One fifth of them did not exercise because of laziness and academic pressure. Roughly 20% of aboriginals had sports or recreation injuries during summer vacation and 32% during the school term. Most of them sustained their injuries from playing basketball or participating in running. The most commonly injuries sites were ankles, knees and hands. Those students who were better informed about sports injuries had fewer such injuries.
There is a need to strengthen sports injury prevention programs in both the health and education sectors. A culturally sensitive educational program of this kind should be developed for the aboriginal adolescents in Taiwan.
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