Use of discretionary protective equipment in high school athletes: Prevalence and determinants

J. Yang, J.M. Bowling, M.A. Lewis, S.W. Marshall, C.W. Runyan and F.O. Mueller

American Journal of Public Health, 2005, vol. 95, issue 11, 1996-2002

Abstract: Objectives. We sought to describe the use of discretionary protective equipment among high school athletes and to examine social and behavioral determinants contributing to equipment usage. Methods. We analyzed data from a 3-year (1996-1999), stratified, 2-stage cluster sample of athletes engaged in 12 organized sports in 100 North Carolina high schools (n = 19728 athlete-seasons) (an athlete-season represents an individual student who participates in a particular sport in a particular season). We used generalized logistic regression to model the association of social and behavioral determinants and demographic variables with discretionary protective equipment use. Results. About one third of high school athletes self-reported using lower extremity discretionary protective equipment. Girls, seniors, those who played limited-contact sports, and those who played multiple sports reported higher usage. Small school size, low player/coach ratio, high proportion of team usage, and history of previous lower extremity injury were important predictors of usage. Coaches' experience, qualifications, and training, however, were not predictive of usage. Conclusions. Intervention efforts to promote use of discretionary protective equipment need to target school-level factors and should consider both team requirements and the role of peers in setting and reinforcing norms.

Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2004.050807

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2004.050807_8

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.050807

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().