Sports Participation Decreases the Incidence of Traumatic, Nonsports-Related Fractures Among Adolescents.

Abstract

To investigate the effects of different sports on the incidence of traumatic fractures (TF; sport-related fractures and those occurring in daily activities) among adolescents during the 9-month follow-up period. The adolescents were contacted in 11 different locations (3 public/private schools and 8 sports clubs), and the final sample was divided into 3 groups: control (n = 121), swimming (n = 51), and impact sports (n = 142). The incidence of TF was calculated by considering the exposure to sports (TF/1000h). In the overall sample, the incidence of TF was 1.29 TF/1000hours of sports exposure, while the incidence of sport-related TF was 0.39 TF/1000hours of sports exposure. Adolescents engaged in sports (P = .004), independently of type (P = .001), for 3 or more days per week (P = .004) and more than 60minutes per day (P = .001) had lower incidence of TF. Adolescents engaged in more than 300minutes per week of sport (0.17 TF/1000h) had lower incidence than those who did not (2.06 TF/1000h [P = .001]). A similar finding was observed for sport-related TF (≥300min/wk: 0.08 TF/1000h vs 300min/wk: 0.615 TF/1000h [P = .02]). Adolescents engaged in sports showed a lower incidence of TF than nonengaged adolescents.