September 21, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ellen Satlof, 214.637.6282, ext.159
of injuries to high school athletes
DALLAS – More than half of injuries to high school athletes in nine sports were found to occur during practice sessions, according to a study released today by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). The three-year project investigated injuries in selected high school sports over a three-year period (1995 to 1997 academic years). Findings from this extensive research of nearly 250 schools appear in this month’s issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.
The NATA-funded study was conducted by John W. Powell, PhD, ATC. It focused on characterizing the risk of injury associated with 10 popular high school sports by comparing the relative frequency of injury and selected injury rates among sports, as well as the participation conditions within each sport. The sports studied were baseball (boys), softball (girls), football (boys), field hockey (girls), soccer (both), basketball (both), volleyball (girls) and wrestling (boys). The data came from 246 certified athletic trainers (ATCs) representing different sized schools across various geographic regions of the country. During the study, 23,566 reportable injuries occurred, and an average of 6,000 students were injured at least once each year.
The results of this study showed these interesting discoveries:
- An average of 55.5 percent of the reported injuries occurred during practice sessions.
- Only boys (59.3 percent) and girls’ (57 percent) soccer showed a larger proportion of reported injuries in games than practices.
- Football had the highest rate of injury per 1,000 athlete exposures (8.1), while volleyball showed the lowest rate (1.7).
- The largest proportion of fractures came from boys’ baseball (8.8 percent), basketball (8.6 percent), soccer (8.5 percent) and softball (8.4 percent).
- More than 73 percent of injuries restricted players fewer than eight days.
- The highest frequency of knee injuries appeared in girls’ soccer (19.4 percent), while baseball was the lowest (10.5 percent).
- The largest proportion of surgeries reported among the ten sports was for girls’ basketball (4.0 percent) and the lowest was field hockey (1.2 percent).
- Of the injuries requiring surgery, 60.3 percent were to the knee.
- Field hockey was the only sport where sprains and strains accounted for less than 50 percent of the total injuries.
The findings of this study indicate the best way to minimize the risk of injury in young athletes is to provide participation opportunities that are under the blanket of a well-designed and operational injury prevention program.
" . . . Injury prevention programs should be in place for both practices and games," said Powell. "Although sports injuries cannot be entirely eliminated, consistent and professional evaluation of yearly injury patterns can provide focus for the development and evaluation of injury prevention strategies."
Powell identified four key points based on the data: each sport has an inherent risk based on the nature of the game and activities of the players; injury prevention programs should be in place for practice sessions, as well as games; the prevention of reinjury through daily injury management is a critical component of an injury prevention program; and sex differences in knee surgery patterns are specific to the sport being considered.
The NATA has as one of its goals, to increase the awareness of the need for more certified athletic trainers at the high school setting. ATCs are highly educated and skilled professionals specializing in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries. As this study indicates, injuries can be better minimized by involving more ATCs in high school sports programs.
The American Medical Association (AMA) recognizes athletic training as an allied healthcare profession and recommends the use of ATCs in all high school athletic programs. The AMA’s premier publication, the Journal of the American Medical Association, spotlighted in a recent edition a portion of Powell’s injury surveillance, focusing on mild traumatic brain injury.
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