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Injury Rates in Age-Only Versus Age-and-Weight Playing Standard Conditions in American Youth Football
Zachary Y Kerr1, Stephen W Marshall2, Janet E Simon3
1Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention Inc, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine
|December 18, 2015
Summary
Youth football leagues with age-only (AO) or age-and-weight (AW) standards show similar injury rates. This study found no significant difference in overall injuries, time-loss injuries, non-time-loss injuries, or concussions between the two playing standards.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Pediatric Sports Injury
- Youth Football Safety
Background:
- Youth football leagues commonly use age-only (AO) or age-and-weight (AW) playing standards.
- These standards group players differently, but injury risk comparisons are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare injury rates between youth tackle football players in AO and AW playing standard conditions.
Main Methods:
- A cohort study involving 4092 athlete-seasons from 210 youth football teams across 6 states.
- Athletic trainers recorded injuries over two seasons (2012-2013).
- Multivariate Poisson regression analyzed injury rates for overall injuries, non-time-loss (NTL) injuries, time-loss (TL) injuries, and concussions.
Main Results:
- The overall injury rate was 10.3 per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs).
- No significant differences in injury rates were found between AO and AW playing standards for any endpoint.
- Adjusted rate ratios (RR) for overall injuries, NTL, TL, and concussions were 1.1, 1.1, 0.9, and 0.6, respectively.
Conclusions:
- Current age-only and age-and-weight playing standards in youth football exhibit similar injury rates.
- Further research should investigate other factors influencing youth football injury risk, such as rules and behavioral elements.
