Track and Field Injuries in Children and Adolescents Presenting to us Emergency Departments-An Updated Review of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System

Abstract

Background:Running is a highly popular activity that fosters healthy lifestyle habits in athletes of all ages. Track and field is a popular competitive youth sport with injuries estimated at 0.84 per 1000 athlete exposures among high school athletes. Injury patterns have been noted to vary by age and differ from those sustained in adult runners. Prior work has examined the epidemiology of youth track and field and running related injuries, but data from the recent decade in the setting of increasing sport specialization and year-round participation is lacking.Purpose:To examine the evolving epidemiology of track and field and running related injuries prompting emergency department presentation.Methods:A retrospective review of data obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was performed identifying children 10-18 with injuries associated with the Track & Field/Running product code (5030) from 2008-2020. National injury estimates were calculated annually and overall. Descriptive statistics were utilized to summarize injury characteristics of the entire cohort. Annual injury estimates were calculated to identify trends over the study period, which included the 2020 season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Results:We identified 8,399 track and field associated NEISS cases occurring from 2008-2020 representing a national estimate of 271,788 injuries [95% Confidence Interval: 250,288 to 294,24]. The majority (52%) of injuries occurred among patients 15 to 18 years of age. Injuries occurred most frequently in the lower extremity (52%) and most commonly involved the ankle (17%) and knee (15%). Sprain/strains were the most frequent injury type (40%). The majority of patients (97%) did not require hospitalization. Injury estimates of each demographic and injury characteristic with 95% confidence intervals are reported in Table 1. There was a rising annual frequency of track and field injuries seen peaking in 2017 with a notable decline in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusion:Track and field injuries requiring emergency department presentation appear to be increasing from prior study estimates, but demonstrate similar distribution of injury characteristics. Severe injuries requiring hospitalization remain rare. The majority of injuries involve the knee and ankle and involve older adolescents. This data provides meaningful data for providers caring for and counseling adolescent athletes.Table 1:Track-Related Injuries in Children aged 10-18 Treated in US Emergency Departments