## 3 Results
### Severity of Lower Back Complaints  
The GCPS-related results are summarized in Table 2. The mean value of Characteristic Pain Intensity was 37.53 \(\pm\) 18.0 and the Disability Score was 13.27 \(\pm\) 14.59 on average. There were no significant sex or category differences at \(p<0.05\). Most participants (57.4%) suffered from low intensity--low disability complaints (Grade I), and 21.8% from high intensity--low disability complaints (Grade II). Again, there were no significant differences between males and females, or between U-16 and U-18 skiers. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Overview of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ)-based results and differences between sexes and categories. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**GCPS Score** & \begin{tabular}{c} **Overall** \\ **\# m = 188** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Male** \\ **\# m = 110** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Female** \\ **\# m = 78** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **tfd**\(p\), **\(p\)** \\ **\# m = 128** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **U-16** \\ **\# m = 60** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **U-18** \\ **\# m = 60** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Characteristic Pain Intensity & 37.53 \(\pm\) 18.0 & 28.30 \(\pm\) 21.98 & 32.26 \(\pm\) 22.11 & n.s. & 30.62 \(\pm\) 22.71 & 28.50 \(\pm\) 20.70 & n.s. \\ \hline Disability Score & 13.27 \(\pm\)14.59 & 11.29 \(\pm\)15.22 & 9.61 \(\pm\)12.32 & n.s & 11.51 \(\pm\)15.06 & 8.64 \(\pm\)11.59 & n.s \\ \hline
**GCPS Classification** & & & & \(\chi^{2}\) & & \(\chi^{2}\) \\ \hline Grade 0 & (39) & (23) & (16) & & (27) & (12) & n.s. \\ Pain free & 20.7\% & 20.9\% & 20.5\% & n.s. & 21.1\% & 20\% & n.s. \\ \hline Grade I & (0.08) & (64) & (44) & n.s. & (70) & (38) & n.s. \\ Low intensity-Low disability & 57.4\% & 58.2\% & 56.4\% & n.s. & 54.7\% & 63.3\% & n.s. \\ \hline Grade II & (41) & (23) & (18) & n.s. & (31) & (10) & n.s \\ High intensity-Low disability & 21.8\% & 20.9\% & 23.1\% & n.s. & 24.2\% & 16.7\% & n.s \\ \hline Grade III & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} \\ High Disability-Moderately Limiting & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} \\ \hline Grade IV & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} \\ High Disability-Severely Limiting & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Overview of the Graded Chronic Pain Scale (GCPS) scores and differences between sexes and categories. Relationship between Different Severity Measures, as well as between Severity and Training Attributes  
We found a medium-correlation Characteristic Pain Intensity and Disability Score (r = 0.62, \(p\) \(<\) 0.01). Moreover, the average lower back complaint intensity, as well as the intensity at the time of filling out the questionnaire, positively correlated with the worst pain intensity experienced within the last 6 months (r = 0.63, \(p\) \(<\) 0.01; r = 0.47, \(p\) \(<\) 0.01, respectively). The results of the correlation analysis between the GCPS scores and different training attributes are highlighted in Table 3. There were small yet significant correlations between the Characteristic Pain Intensity and the training attributes \"years of sports participation\", \"number of competitions/season\", and \"number of skiing days/season\".