Epidemiology Of Severe Injuries Within Ncaa Football, Wrestling, And Men’s Ice Hockey, 2009/10-2014/15 Academic Years.

Abstract

Severe injuries are a challenge that many student-athletes endure throughout their collegiate participation in athletics. Current research focuses on severe injuries sustained during football. However, little research examines the epidemiology of severe injuries in other collision sports. PURPOSE: To describe the epidemiology of severe injuries sustained within collision sports (football, wrestling, men’s ice hockey) in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) during the 2009/10-2014/15 academic years. METHODS: Severe injury data from the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program during the 2009/10-2014/15 academic years were analyzed. A severe injury was defined as: (1) occurring during a sanctioned competition or practice, (2) requiring medical attention by an athletic trainer or physician, and (3) resulting in time loss over 21 days or not returning for that sport season. Injury rates per 10000 athlete-exposures (AE) with 95% confidence intervals and distributions by body part, injury type, and injury mechanism were calculated. RESULTS: Overall, 1647 severe injuries occurred within collision sports. Severe injuries comprised 14.2% (n=173) of all injuries in wrestling, 10.3% (n=380) of all injuries in men’s ice hockey, and 10.2% (n=1094) of all injuries in football. The highest severe injury rate was in wrestling (1.65/10000AE), followed by football (0.97/10000AE), and men’s ice hockey (0.93/10000AE). Among severe injuries, the most common injured body part was the knee in football (40.6%, n=444) and wrestling (32.4%, n=56), and the head & neck in ice hockey (21.1%, n=80). The most common severe injury was ACL tear in football (14.0%, n=153), and concussion in wrestling (17.3%, n=30) and men’s ice hockey (18.4%, n=70). Concussions made up 10.6% of all severe injuries sustained within these sports. The most common injury mechanism was player contact in football (57.5%, n=629), wrestling (56.6%, n=98), and men’s ice hockey (49.7%, n=189). CONCLUSION: Severe injuries sustained in collision sports are often due to player contact and most often occur to the knee or head & neck. Additional research needs to help develop and evaluate injury prevention interventions to reduce injury incidence and severity in these sports.