Gender differences in injury and illness rates on wilderness backpacking trips

Abstract

Wilderness participation has increased substantially in the last 50 years. The percentage of female wilderness participants has also increased. Females now comprise over 50% of the participants in many backcountry activities. Despite this rise in wilderness participation, limited epidemiological research exists on wilderness injuries and illnesses. Even fewer studies exist which have examined the influence of gender on wilderness injury and illness rates. In this study, self-reported injury and illness data were collected from participants on Colorado Outward Bound School's (COBS) 23-day alpine courses during the spring and summer of 1993. Information was gathered on participant gender, individual injury and illness rates, and individual reporting habits. Of the 343 participants who completed surveys, 85–94% sustained some sort of injury and 69% became ill at some point during their wilderness experience. Although males and females were found to experience similar frequencies of illness, it was found that females experienced a significantly higher rate of injury than males. Males and females did not differ in their likelihood to report an injury or illness. However, males reported significantly fewer injuries to mixed-gender (female/male) leader pairs than to single-gender (male/male or female/female) leader pairs. The results of this study support previous literature in finding that the most common wilderness injuries were soft tissue injuries. These results also suggest that improving current prevention strategies and examining the effect of leadership on wilderness participants' accurate and honest communication of health problems could be advantageous to future programs.