Injury Statistics

College Athletes Start Playing Their Sport Early, But Specialize Late, Research Shows

Early sports specialization has been increasingly viewed as increasing an athlete's chances of achieving elite status, but has raised significant concerns, both as to whether it actually accomplishes that objective, and whether it carries with it an increased risk for sports-related injuries. A quartet of research papers explore various aspects of the issue.

SmartTeams™ Talk: Nationwide Children's MacDonald Urges Multi-Pronged Public Health Approach To Preventing Youth Sports Injuries

A pediatric sports medicine specialist says that to prevent youth sports injuries we need to "think like Sweden" in setting as a goal zero youth sports injuries; use protective equipment such as properly fitted and maintained helmets, mouthguards, and goggles; and recognize that education is not enough to change the cultural and physical environment of youth sports, but requires active implementation of sports safety best practices at the grass roots level.

Teen Athletes at Risk for Medication Misuse

Teen athletes derive many positive benefits from participating in sports, but their increased risk of sports-related injuries may also heighten their risk for medication misuse and abuse, especially for boys, finds a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Ankle Sprains Most Common High School Sports Injury, Study Finds

Ankle sprains are the most common single injury in high school sports, accounting for one in six of all high school sports-related injuries, finds a new study.

Double Digit Decline In Youth Sports Injuries Over Last Decade, New Study Finds

There is good news and bad news on the youth sports injury front. The good news is that sports and recreation musculoskeletal injuries declined 12.4 percent in the U.S. over the past 10 years for children ages 5 to 14 years. The bad news: injuries in football and soccer went up, says a new study.

Youth Sports Safety: By The Numbers

A helpful compilation of statistics on concussions, exercise-induced asthma, exertional heat illness, sudden cardiac arrest, exertional sickling, use of steroids and dietary supplements, and cervical spine injury collected by the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

Youth Sports Injuries On Rise: Is Lack of General Physical Fitness Partially To Blame?

While increase in number of youth sports injuries is result of greater participation, especially by girls, says Lyle Micheli, M.D., Director, Division of Sports Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, some suggest that today's kids are more prone to injury because they are more sedentary and come to sports less physically fit and well-conditioned.

High School Football, Girls Basketball Have Most Severe Injuries: Study

Which high school sports pose the highest risk of severe injury?  Football leads the list, slightly more than wrestling and more than twice the rate in girls' basketball and girls' soccer.  The safest of the nine studied? Girls volleyball.

Sports Head and Neck Injury Statistics

Not surprisingly, football had the most head and neck injuries of any team sport during the period:

Most Kids Have Suffered Abuse In Sports

Almost half (45.3%) of those surveyed (both males and females) said they had been emotionally abused while participating in sports (i.e. called names, yelled at, or insulted).

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