Rates and Patterns of Lower Extremity Sports Injuries in All Gender-Comparable US High School Sports

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Lower extremity sports injuries (LESIs) are common among high school athletes presenting to emergency departments.
• Previous research has documented LESI rates and mechanisms but lacked gender-comparable sport analysis.
• No studies have specifically compared LESIs in gender-comparable sports to identify sex-based differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the epidemiology of LESIs in US high school athletes.
• To analyze injury data from gender-comparable sports to evaluate differences between boys and girls.
• To utilize a large national database for comprehensive injury pattern assessment.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive epidemiology study was conducted using data from 2005 to 2016.
• The High School Reporting Information Online (High School RIO) system provided injury data for 8 gender-comparable sports.
• Injury rates were calculated per 10,000 athlete-exposures, with rate ratios comparing girls and boys.

Main Results:

• Soccer and basketball showed the highest LESI rates in both genders.
• Girls exhibited significantly higher injury rates across all sports compared to boys.
• Girls sustained a greater proportion of severe injuries and received more radiographic evaluations.

Conclusions:

• LESIs disproportionately affect high school girls compared to boys, especially severe injuries.
• Significant gender-based differences in injury rates and resource utilization were observed.
• Further research is needed to understand the causes of these disparities and inform targeted injury prevention efforts.