Epidemiology of player--player contact injuries among US high school athletes, 2005-2009

To investigate the epidemiology of player-player contact injuries in a nationally representative sample of US high school student-athletes.

Data from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study were analyzed to calculate rates, describe patterns, and evaluate potential risk factors for player-player contact injuries.

Player-player contact injuries represented 46.4% of all high school sports injuries and occurred at a rate of 11.6 per 10,000 athlete exposures (AEs). Player-player contact injury rates (per 10 000 AEs) were highest in football (26.0), wrestling (10.8), and girls' soccer (9.8). Body sites most commonly injured were the ankle/foot (21.9%), head/face (18.9%), and knee (16.9%). Most common diagnoses were ligament sprains (32.5%).

Player-player contact is the most common mechanism of injury among high school athletes. The epidemiology of such injuries varies by gender and sport. Developing effective preventive measures depends on increasing our knowledge of player-player contact injury rates, patterns, and risk factors.