Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of sports coaches regarding sports related injuries and its prevention using a questionnaire survey design. Material and Methods: A modified questionnaire was distributed to 50 coaches of various sports teams in different parts of Chennai city in India between October 2009 and February 2010. The statistical analyses were carried out by SPSS version 18.0 and the data were analyzed. Results: Out of 50 coaches, 94% were males and 6% were females with mean age of 38.74 years. 70% of the coaches found the frequency of injury in the range of 1-5, which included soft tissue injury (46%) followed by bruise and dental trauma. 66% of the coaches believed that boxing was the sports event most likely to cause injury, but boxing, football and rugby (38.5%) were the sports which actually caused injury. The mechanism of injury was mainly due to collision (42%). The protective devices most commonly used were helmet (61.4%) and mouthguards (47.7%). 70% of the coaches felt that non-use of protective devices can cause injuries sometimes. 68% of the coaches found that protective devices enhance the efficiency of the players and 76% considered the use of protective devices based on the type of games. Conclusions: The results show that there is an increasing acceptance to the use of protective devices among the coaches of Chennai, but its usage was mostly based on the type of game.
Highlights
A physically active lifestyle is important for all age groups
The questionnaire sought information about what sport(s) they coached, the experience they had as a coach, the rate of oral trauma they had seen during sport activities, the mechanism of injuries, type of injury, various protective devices they knew for each games and its usage in sports to avoid injuries
70% of the coaches found the frequency of injury in the range of 1-5 (Table 2). 66% of the coaches believed that boxing was the sports event most likely to cause oro-facial injury
Summary
A physically active lifestyle is important for all age groups. Reason to participate in sports and physical activity are many such as pleasure, relaxation, competition, socialization, maintenance and improvement of fitness and health [1]. Participation in sports offers potential benefits for individuals of all ages, such as combating obesity and enhancing cardiovascular fitness. Thousands of school children play at least one organized sport [3]. It is of growing concern about the injuries that occur during participation in organized sports [4]. Injuries during sport appear to be unavoidable, and up to 30% to 40% of all accidents in children and adolescents occur during sports [5]. Comparing injury statistics can be difficult as there is no uniform system for reporting the number of injuries [6,7]
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