CAULIFLOWER EAR AND SKIN INFECTIONS AMONG WRESTLERS IN TEHRAN

• Main Authors: Ramin Kordi, Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Roh Allah Nourian, W. Angus Wallace
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Uludag 2007-10-01
• Series: Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
• Subjects: Wrestling; cauliflower ears; skin infections
• Online Access: http://www.jssm.org/combat/2/8/v6combat2-8text.php

The purpose of the study was to describe the magnitude of the selected sports medicine problems (i.e. cauliflower ear and skin infections) among wrestlers in Tehran. A number of 411 wrestlers were randomly selected from wrestling clubs in Tehran employing cluster sample setting method. The participants were interviewed using a specially designed and validated questionnaire. Nearly half of the participants (44%) had "cauliflower ears". Only 23% of these participants had received any kind of treatment for their acute ear haematomas that are known to result in "cauliflower ears". The prevalence of reported hearing loss among participants with cauliflower ears (11.5%, 95%CI: 6.9 to 16.2) was significantly more than this prevalence among those participants without cauliflower ears (1.8%, 95%CI: 0.1 to 3.5) (p < 0.05). More than half of the participants (52%) had skin infection diagnosed by a physician during the previous year. This study has identified evidence of an increase in hearing loss as a possible side effect of either cauliflower ear or ear injury in wrestling in Iran. There has been an outbreak of ringworm and there is a significant potential for an outbreak of impetigo among wrestlers in Tehran