Gender differences in knee injury epidemiology among competitive alpine ski racers

A questionnaire was sent in 1995 to all members of the Vermont Alpine Racing Association and several New England NCAA Division I ski racing programs. A total of 1010 surveys were sent and 404 responses were received. The survey included questions regarding the racer's age, gender, number of years spent ski racing, injury to knee(s), surgery to knee(s), and reinjury to a surgically reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) requiring subsequent surgery. Only injuries that occurred during alpine skiing were included. One-quarter of respondents (27%) reported a history of a knee injury. Female racers were 2.3 times more likely to have sustained a knee injury than male racers. More impressively, one in five female alpine racers (22%) reported an ACL disruption, and females were 3.1 times more likely to sustain an ACL injury in comparison to their male counterparts. Of the athletes who had surgery to reconstruct their ACL, approximately one-third (36%) required subsequent surgery to the same knee. One in five (22%) ACL reconstructions failed, requiring additional surgery to the same ACL. Females reported a higher rate of reinjury to an ACL graft than males (27% vs. 13%), but this was not statistically significant.