Oro-facial injury and mouthguard usage by athletes in Nigeria

To determine the extent of awareness concerning mouthguard use for sports as well as the amount and type of oro-facial trauma associated with sporting activities among Nigerian athletes.

A questionnaire survey.

A questionnaire was completed by 273 athletes (91% completion rate) who participated in the National Sports festival in May 2002 in Benin City, Nigeria. The sample was representative of all the 36 states in Nigeria including the Federal capital territory, Abuja. Descriptive statistics were employed and the data were further analysed using the chi-square test.

Awareness concerning mouthguards was claimed by 226 (82.8%) of the athletes but significantly fewer athletes who claimed awareness of the devices were using them. Only 93 (41.2%) of this mouthguard-aware group knew of the three types of mouthguard available. Of all the respondents, 131 (48.0%) believed that wearing mouthguards would reduce the prevalence and/or severity of oro-facial injuries during sports. In all, 158 (57.9%) of them had one form of oro-facial injury or the other with contact sports accounting for most of them (78.5%) while 21.5% resulted from non-contact events. The prevalence of oro-facial injuries was significantly lower while wearing mouth protectors.

Although the majority of the athletes claimed awareness of mouthguards, less than one-third used them. Over half of the athletes were not sure that mouthguards could reduce the prevalence and/or severity of oro-facial injuries. There is need to educate the athletes more concerning mouthguards.