Epidemiology of Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Cross-Country: 2014-2015 Through 2018-2019.

Abstract

Women's cross-country is a thriving sport at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level with over 1000 sponsored programs association-wide. Routine examinations of women's cross-country injuries are important for identifying emerging time trends in injury incidence and outcomes. Exposure and injury data collected in the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program from 2014-2015 through 2018-2019 were analyzed. Injury counts, rates, and proportions were used to describe injury characteristics, and injury rate ratios were used to examine differential injury rates. The overall injury rate was 3.96 per 1000 athlete-exposures. Most reported injuries were inflammatory conditions (33.6%), strains (17.7%), and fractures (9.1%). The most commonly reported injuries were medial tibial stress syndrome (10.0%) and lateral ligament complex tears (ankle sprains; 4.2%). Findings of this study were not entirely consistent with existing evidence. Future studies are needed to examine the nature of inflammatory conditions and fractures in this population, as well as temporal patterns in commonly reported injuries.