Cheerleading is not always safe

Abstract

Journal of Paediatrics and Child HealthVolume 52, Issue 6 p. 682-683 Heads UpFree Access Cheerleading is not always safe David Isaacs, David Isaacs Reviewer [email protected] Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author David Isaacs, David Isaacs Reviewer [email protected] Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 June 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.13229Citations: 1 edited by Craig Mellis ([email protected]) AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Cheerleading is a North American tradition, with about 400 000 US high school participants each year. The epidemiology of high school cheerleader injuries has now been studied longitudinally.1 Cheerleading injury rate was 0.71 per 1000 athlete exposures, which ranked 18th of 22 sports (ahead only of boys' cross country, boys' track and field, girls' swimming and diving and boys' swimming and diving). Over half of all injuries occurred during stunts (53.2%). The most common injuries for girls were concussion (31.6%), ligament sprains (19.9%) and muscle strains (14.6%) and for boys ligament sprains (32.0%) and concussion (16.0%). The most common body parts injured for both boys and girls were head/face (39.0% and 24.0%) and ankle (11.7% and 16.0%, respectively). Although most injured cheerleaders were girls (96.8%), the injury rate was higher in boys (1.33 vs. 0.69, rate ratio = 1.93, 95% confidence interval: 1.30–2.88). Concussion was the commonest cheerleading injury (31.1% of all injuries), but concussion rates were lower in cheerleading than in all other sports combined (rate ratio = 0.58, 95% confidence interval: 0.51–0.66). Not surprisingly, injury rates are lower for cheerleaders than most other high school sports, but chess would be a lot safer. Reference 1Currie DW et al. Pediatrics 2016; 137: e20152447. Citing Literature Volume52, Issue6June 2016Pages 682-683 ReferencesRelatedInformation