High Injury and Concussion Rates in Female Youth Team Sport: An Opportunity for Prevention

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate sport-related injury rates, types, locations, and mechanisms in female youth team sports.This was a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was administered to high school students (ages 14-19) in Canada. The survey included questions regarding demographic information, sport participation and self-reported injuries sustained in the past year. Results were analyzed for girls who reported playing a top ten team sports for female participation. For girls participating in team sports, the overall injury rate was 55.5 injuries/100 participants/year. The rate of at least one concussion was 9.4 concussions/100 participants/year. Injury and concussion rates were highest in ringette (Injury rate=42.9 injuries/100 participants/year, Concussion rate=19.0 concussions/100 participants/year) and rugby (Injury rate=40.0, Concussion rate=15.3). The top three most serious injury locations were the knee (24.7%), ankle (21.6%) and head (16.1%). The most common injury types were joint/ligament sprain (26.71%), fracture (13.0%) and concussion (11.8%). Contact mechanisms accounted for 73.4% of all serious injuries reported in girls team sports.Team sport injury rates are high in female youth team sports. Specific consideration of sport-specific injury rates, types and mechanisms in girls’ team sports will inform development and evaluation of targeted sport-specific prevention strategies.

Injuries in professional women’s elite soccer players in Kosovo: a descriptive epidemiological injuries study

“…In the last decade, we have many numerous types of research which present the characteristics, types, and incidence of injuries in many countries of the world (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Another point of concern is the many disagreements regarding the most signi cant factors in the incidence of injuries in soccer players, including anatomical characteristics of women players (Q angle), biomechanical factors, muscle disharmony between quadriceps and hamstrings hormonal factors, body mass index (BMI), neuromuscular fatigue and its consequences, repetitions, age and especially a reduction in the range of motion (ROM) lack of exibility in the muscles involved (4,11,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Many studies conducted in injury surveillance have observed the incidence of injuries in play ranging from 3.50 to 55.5/1000 h the frequency of injuries sustained while training ranging from 1.4 to 10.9/1000 h. Any physical part of the players that results in removal from the game or training is de ned as an injury, while a repeated injury is considered a new injury according to (26).…”