Bone health of professional jockeys
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Correlation between Histological Bone Appearance and Non Invasive Measures of Bone Health in Professional Jockeys undergoing Surgery for Acute Fractures.
IRAS ID
251403
Contact name
George Wilson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool John Moores University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Professional horse racing is a hazardous sport. Given racehorses will typically reach peak speeds of 36 mph for jump racing (over obstacles) and 42 mph for flat racing, for the jockey any fall at such speeds commonly will result in fracture or the break of bones and/or other injuries (e.g., lung puncture, concussion). Given the negotiating of obstacles in jump races, jump jockeys will fall a lot more frequently than their flat race counterparts (1 in every 15 rides versus 1 in every 504 rides - McCrory et al., 2001; Hitchens et al., 2012). However given jump race horses reach significantly slower peak speeds than flat racehorses (36 mph versus 42 mph) and the horses in jump racing are not as in close proximity when racing in comparison to flat races, the injuries sustained in the flat race jockeys tend to be a lot more serious in the event of a fall, given the marked difference in speed and racing proximity compared to the jumping code (Turner et al., 2008). When a jockey sustains a fracture or bone break from a racecourse fall they will undergo a surgical procedure. During surgery, residual bone fragments (re-aligns broken/fractured parts - insertion of rod, pin, plate or screw) are present that are disposed of as clinical waste. Analysis of a bone fragment can inform on the health of the bone. Following on, in regards to the low bone mineral density (BMD) of jockeys that from Dual X-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) testing typically present as osteopenic and/or osteoporotic for World Health Organisation classifications (Wilson et al., 2018, 2015; Warrington et al., 2009), this analysis may answer the question as to whether such classifications are then justified in this population, and if osteomalacia (bone disease) is indeed present as would be indicated by very low bone density scores?
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NW/0049
Date of REC Opinion
11 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion