Exposure to injury in sport : high school football surveillance system /

Abstract

Twenty years ago infectious diseases were the major cause of mortality and morbidity in the world's adolescent population. In this decade, children die worldwide due to unintentional injury more than any other cause. This increase in injury related deaths is also seen in the United States. Recreational and sport related accidents are often reported as the major risk of unintentional injury.

The purpose of this investigation is to answer the following question: What effect does the amount of time spent practicing or participating in competition have on the occurrence of injury to varsity high school football athletes?

The injury surveillance system collected data on 11 varsity high school football injuries during the 2008 football season. The injury surveillance system did not collect data on junior varsity activities, club activities, any in-season individual conditioning or weight-lifting sessions, or most out-of-season or nontraditional season practice, competition, or conditioning activities.

The results suggest that, when controlling for all other variables, the school an athlete attends and the week during which a practice occurs influences the possibility of an injury event. The results suggest that, when controlling for all other variables, the school an athlete attends, classification in school of the athlete, and the week during which a competition occurs influences the possibility of an injury event.

During practice, the school an athlete attends and the week during which the practice occurs are shown to influence the occurrence of injury among varsity high school football athletes. During competition, the school an athlete attends, the week during which the competition occurs, and the classification of the athlete are shown to influence the occurrence of injury among varsity high school football athletes.