The Epidemiology of Injuries in Contact Flag Football

Abstract

Dette er siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde små forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-versjon. Forlagets pdf-versjon finner du på journals.lww.com: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0b013e3182694870 This is the final text version of the article, and it may contain minor differences from the journal's pdf version. The original publication is available at journals.lww.com: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0b013e3182694870 Main Outcome Measures: All time-loss injuries sustained in game sessions were recorded by the off-the-field medical personnel and followed up by a more detailed phone injury surveillance questionnaire.Results: One hundred sixty-three injuries were reported, comprising 1 533 776 athletic exposures (AEs). The incidence rate was 0.11 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.09-0.12] per 1000 AEs, and incidence proportion was 10.66% (95% CI, 9.10-12.22). Seventy-six percent of the injuries were extrinsic in nature. Thirty percent of the injuries were to the fingers, thumb, and wrist, 17% to the knee, 17% to the head/face, 13% to the ankle, and 11% to the shoulder.Conclusions: Contact flag football results in a significant amount of moderate to severe injuries. These data may be used in the development of a formal American flag football injury database and in the development and implementation of a high-quality, randomized, prospective injury prevention study. This study should include the enforcement of the nopocket rule, appropriate headgear, self-fitting mouth guards, the use of ankle braces, and changing the blocking rules of the game.

Injuries can be prevented in contact flag football!

“…In the intervention cohort, there were no injuries that resulted from fingers being caught in the opposing players' pockets. This can be compared to hand/wrist injuries in the historical cohort, of which 40% were caused by pockets (Fig.2) [15]. Thus, the no-pocket rule proved beyond reasonable doubt that it is a significant factor in reducing hand/wrist injuries in flag football.…”

“…Previous studies in flag football have shown a high percentage of anatomical specific injuries; the hand/wrist (16-34%), the knee (11-18%), the ankle (8-17%), the face and head (18-29%), and the shoulder (9-10%) [4,6,15,16]. Direct trauma was responsible for the vast majority of injuries (64-75%).…”

“…During a previous prospective epidemiological study conducted during the 2007-9 playing seasons (Historical cohort), almost all players wore pants with side pockets and refrained from playing with mouth guards [15]. Despite the available evidence illustrating that mouth guards provide impact energy attenuation and limited prevention against concussions [2,5,7,21], the use of mouth guards is not enforced in the sport of contact flag football.…”

“…Despite the available evidence illustrating that mouth guards provide impact energy attenuation and limited prevention against concussions [2,5,7,21], the use of mouth guards is not enforced in the sport of contact flag football. Furthermore, in the historical cohort, 40% of the hand/wrist injuries were reported as a direct result of fingers being caught in the pockets of the opposing players' pants ( Fig.2) [15]. Although ankle braces have proven to be successful in reducing ankle injuries in sports, primarily in those players with recurrent sprains, very few players in the historical cohort used them [17,24].…”

Oztag: high risk for hand injuries?

“…A United States Air Force (USAF) 10‐year review (1993–2002) found American flag football to be the eighth highest non‐combat cause of lost workdays among active duty personnel . A report of an Israeli amateur league found that 30% of all injuries were of the digits or wrist and 40% of these were sustained during a tackle, when caught in another players clothing . To date, the only reference to the game in Australian medical literature is Baba et al .…”