National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System: Review of Methods for 2004–2005 Through 2013–2014 Data Collection

Abstract

Background: Since 1982, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has used the Injury Surveillance System (ISS) to collect injury and athlete-exposure data from a representative sample of collegiate institutions and sports. At the start of the 2004–2005 academic year, a Web-based ISS replaced the paper-based platform previously used for reporting injuries and exposures. Objective: To describe the methods of the Web-based National Collegiate Athletic Association ISS for data collection as implemented from the 2004–2005 to 2013–2014 academic years. Description: The Web-based ISS monitored National Collegiate Athletic Association–sanctioned practices and competitions, the number of participating student–athletes, and time-loss injuries during the preseason, regular season, and postseason in 25 collegiate sports. Starting in the 2009–2010 academic year, non–time-loss injuries were also tracked. Efforts were made to better integrate ISS data collection into the workflow of collegiate athletic trainers. Data for the 2004–2005 to 2013–2014 academic years are available to researchers through a standardized application process available at the Datalys Center Web site. Conclusions: As of February 2014, more than 1 dozen data sets have been provided to researchers. The Datalys Center encourages applications for access to the data.

Epidemiology of Knee Sprains in Youth, High School, and Collegiate American Football Players

“…The YFSS involves 5-to 14-year-old football players in 13 youth football leagues across 6 states; the NATION involves 27 sports from secondary schools 15 ; and the NCAA-ISP has been ongoing since 1986 and involves 25 sports from each of the 3 competitive divisions. 16 All 3 programs use the same technology, methods, and common data elements, with slight variations for setting and level of competition. 16 During the 2012 through 2014 seasons, the YFSS included more than 3000 individual athletes from 6 states, 13 youth football leagues, and 118 teams providing 310 team-seasons; the NATION program included 96 secondary school football programs providing 184 team-seasons; and the NCAA-ISP included 34 member institutions providing 71 team-seasons.…”

“…16 All 3 programs use the same technology, methods, and common data elements, with slight variations for setting and level of competition. 16 During the 2012 through 2014 seasons, the YFSS included more than 3000 individual athletes from 6 states, 13 youth football leagues, and 118 teams providing 310 team-seasons; the NATION program included 96 secondary school football programs providing 184 team-seasons; and the NCAA-ISP included 34 member institutions providing 71 team-seasons. The YFSS and NATION protocols were reviewed and approved by the Western Institutional Review Board (Puyallup, WA), and the NCAA-ISP protocol was reviewed and approved by the NCAA Research Review Board (Indianapolis, IN).…”

The Epidemiology of Deltoid Ligament Sprains in 25 National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports, 2009–2010 Through 2014–2015 Academic Years

“…This study was approved by the Research Review Board of the NCAA. The methods of the NCAA ISP during the 2009-2010 through 2014-2015 academic years have been previously described 12 but are briefly summarized here.…”

“…The number of programs providing data varied by sport and year. 12 The ATs worked with these participating teams and attended school-sanctioned practices and competitions. The ATs logged the number of student-athletes participating in each practice and competition.…”

“…Deidentified common data elements were extracted from the certified electronic health record applications. 12 Exported data passed through an automated verification process that conducted a series of range and consistency checks. Data that passed the verification process were then placed into the aggregate research dataset.…”