The correlation between anterior cruciate ligament injury in elite alpine skiers and their parents

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a familiar correlation with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury exists between competitive alpine skiers and their parents.

Methods

All 593 (293 males, 300 females) elite alpine skiers who have studied at a Swedish alpine Ski High School during 2006 and 2012 answered a questionnaire whether they or their parents had suffered an ACL injury. A total of 418 skiers (70 %) answered the questionnaire.

Results

Twenty-nine per cent (n = 19) out of the 65 ACL-injured skiers reported that they had a parent (mother or father) who have had an ACL injury. In skiers without an ACL injury (n = 353), the result was 18 % (n = 64). An odds ratio of 1.95 (95 % confidence interval 1.04–3.65) was found to suffer an ACL injury if you have a parent who has had an ACL injury compared with if you have a parent without any ACL injury.

Conclusion

The findings of the current study demonstrated a family history to tear the ACL between alpine skiers who had studied at a Swedish Ski High School and ACL injuries of their parents.

Level of evidence

III.