Epidemiology of Skin Infections in Men's Wrestling: Analysis of 2009-2010 Through 2013-2014 National Collegiate Athletic Association Surveillance Data.

Abstract

Our knowledge of the current epidemiology of skin infections among wrestlers is limited. To analyze and report the epidemiology of skin infections among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's wrestling student-athletes during the 2009-2010 through 2013-2014 academic years. Descriptive epidemiology study. Aggregate skin infection and exposure data collected by the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program. Collegiate men's wrestling student-athletes. All viral, bacterial, or fungal skin infections reported by athletic trainers at 17 NCAA programs were analyzed, providing 35 team-seasons of data. Skin infection rates per 10 000 athlete-exposures (AEs), rate ratios, skin infection proportions, and skin infection proportion ratios were calculated. The athletic trainers reported 112 skin infections contracted by 87 student-athletes across 78 720 AEs. The overall skin infection rate was 14.23/10 000 AEs (95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.59, 16.86). Of the skin infections identified, 22.3% (n = 25) were recurrent skin infections. Most skin infections (65.2%) were attributable to 5 team-seasons (range, 11-19 infections). Most skin infections occurred during the regular season (n = 76, 67.9%), were identified during practice (n = 100, 89.3%), and resulted in ≥24 hours' time loss (n = 83, 74.1%). The rate for viral skin infections was 1.72 times the rate for bacterial skin infections (95% CI = 1.09, 2.72) and 2.08 times the rate for fungal skin infections (95% CI = 1.28, 3.39). Fungal skin infections more often resulted in time loss <24 hours compared with all other skin infections (75.0% versus 12.5%; infection proportion ratio = 6.00; 95% CI = 3.30, 10.92). Our findings highlight the contagiousness of skin infections and suggest that skin infection rates may be attributable to high incidences among particular teams.