Epidemiology of bowling-related injuries presenting to US emergency departments, 1990-2008

Objective. To examine bowling-related injuries presenting to US emergency departments (EDs) from 1990 to 2008. Methods. Bowling-related injury data were analyzed from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Results. From 1990 to 2008, 8754 bowling injuries presented to US EDs, correlating to an estimated 375 468 injuries nationwide. Common body parts injured were the finger (19.0%), trunk (15.8%), and ankle/foot/toe (14.9%). Common diagnoses were sprain/strain (42.7%) and soft-tissue injury (20.3%). Children <7 years old had a higher proportion of finger injuries (49.2%) and injuries from dropping the ball (42.8%) than individuals ≥7 years old (15.9%, injury proportion ratio [IPR] = 3.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.76-3.45, P < .001; and 15.9%, IPR = 2.69, 95% CI = 2.32-3.12, P < .001, respectively). Seniors ≥65 years old sustained a greater proportion of injuries related to falling/slipping/tripping (72.4%) than individuals <65 years old (38.3%; IPR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.74-2.05, P < .001). Conclusions. Bowling injuries vary by age and gender. Further research on such differences is needed to drive the development of targeted, evidence-based injury prevention strategies.