Sporting events at the 2013 World Dwarf Games included archery, badminton, basketball, boccia, floor hockey, kurling, powerlifting, shooting, soccer, swimming, table tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Events were modified to accommodate the impairments present among the SD population. Athletes were classified into age specific groups: Futures (6 and younger), Junior A (7-11 years old), Junior B (12-15 years old), Open (any age), and Masters (35 and older). Participants in each sport per division are shown in Table 1. A classification system was used for badminton, table tennis, boccia, swimming, and track and field in the Masters and Open divisions.
Lower body classification was determined by leg length (difference between standing height and sitting height) and was used for Open and Masters division athletes in badminton, table tennis, and track. Upper body classification was determined by arm span (fingertip to fingertip with arms abducted 90 degrees) and was used for Open and Masters division athletes in boccia, field competitions, and swimming (Fig. 1). Three classes were used for the upper body and lower body classification system (Table 2).
During the Games, athlete interactions with either the physician or athletic training staff were documented with an "injury and illness report form" (Fig. 2). Variables recorded for each interaction included athlete initials, gender, age, country of origin, sport and event in which the injury occurred, date of injury/illness, area of body injured, mechanism of injury/illness, injury type, physician treatment, hospital referral, and when the athlete was able to return to play.
An injury or illness was described as any symptom that an athlete was experiencing that led them to seek medical consultation from either an athletic trainer or a physician present at the Games. An injury was further classified into one of three types: acute, chronic, or acute on chronic. An acute injury was defined as a new injury that occurred during the Games triggered by a precipitating event. A chronic injury was considered a previously existing injury without an acute triggering event during the Games. An acute on chronic injury was considered a previously existing injury that was exacerbated by an acute precipitating event during the Games.