Sports injuries among adolescents: incidence, causes and consequences

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 1-year incidence, location, type, mechanism and severity of sports injuries for adolescents in Germany.

Data were from the 'German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents', a nationwide study of n = 17 641 children and adolescents. Analyses were based on a weighted total sample size of n(w) = 7451 adolescents between 11 and 17 years of age, 51% of them boys.

A total of 577 adolescents (8%) reported having experienced a sports injury during the past year. Collisions and falls were reported as being the most important causes. The most frequent diagnoses were contusions, dislocations, strains and sprains (60%), followed by fractures (26%). Most injuries (88%) were treated on an outpatient basis with only 12% resulting in hospitalisation. Gender-specific analyses showed that 9% of the boys and 7% of the girls suffered from a sports injury during the past year. After adjusting for the level of physical activity, these gender differences disappeared (OR(girls) 0.94; 95% confidence intervals: 0.74-1.18). Excluding injuries incurred from falls while horse riding, there were no gender differences in the mechanism of injury. Among boys, 30% of all injuries were fractures, among girls 20% (P < 0.05). Apart from fractures, no further differences between the sexes in the range of diagnoses were identified.

Although these results suggest that the risk of sports injuries does not differ significantly based on adolescents' gender, the incidence rate of adolescent sports injuries within Germany is relatively high.