American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release Apr 06, 2014

Lead Author of New AMSSM Guidelines on Overuse Injuries and Burnout in Youth Sports to Present at AMSSM Annual Meeting

NEW ORLEANS, La. – As an emphasis on competitive success in youth sports has led to intense training, frequent competition and early single sport specialization, overuse injuries and burnout have become common. Given these concerns, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) released a new clinical report earlier this year that provides guidance to physicians and healthcare professionals who provide care for young athletes. These guidelines, published in both the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine and the British Journal of Sports Medicine, will be discussed today at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, La.

AMSSM president, UCLA head team physician and lead author of the guidelines, John P. DiFiori, MD will examine the guidelines in depth during a session titled “From Best Practices to Burnout” from 3:40 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.

The guidelines, titled “Overuse Injuries and Burnout in Youth Sports” revealed that the current literature, which reports overuse injuries comprise 50 percent of sports injuries, underestimates the burden of these injuries, since many do not result in time loss from sport. In addition, this new report highlights several specific higher-risk overuse injuries that may result in prolonged recovery and have the potential to endanger future participation. Although infrequent, some may lead to long-term complications.

“Children grow and mature at different rates, making chronologic age a poor barometer for parents and coaches to set expectations and gauge progress,” said Dr. DiFiori. “Understanding this can be critical to a child’s self-esteem and motivation to continue participating.”
 
In addition to serving as head team physician for the UCLA Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr. DiFiori is also a professor in the departments of family medicine and orthopaedics at UCLA, and chief of the division of sports medicine and non-operative orthopaedics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Registration is required for admittance. Media interested in being credentialed for the 2014 AMSSM Annual Meeting or to schedule an interview with any of the meeting speakers, contact Jessica Torres-Sosa, AMSSM Communications Manager, at [email protected]. Media guidelines: http://www.amssm.org/Content/pdf%20files/MediaRoom_Guidelines.pdf
 

About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: More than 1,400 sports medicine physicians from the United States and abroad come together to address advances and challenges in sports medicine through lectures and research. Learn more at https://www.amssm.org/ConferencesDetails.php?IDconf=58&Past=.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of 2,500 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org

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