Epidemiology of Sports-Related Injuries and Associated Risk Factors in Adolescent Athletes: An Injury Surveillance

Pablo Prieto-González, Jose Luis Martínez-Castillo, Luis Miguel Fernández-Galván, Arturo Casado, Sergio Soporki and Jorge Sánchez-Infante
Additional contact information
Pablo Prieto-González: Health and Physical Education Department, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
Jose Luis Martínez-Castillo: Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes School, Tarancón, 16400 Cuenca, Spain
Luis Miguel Fernández-Galván: Education Faculty, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Arturo Casado: Center for Sport studies, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28028 Madrid, Spain
Sergio Soporki: ITV Secondary School, Santa Rosa, La Pampa 6300, Argentina
Jorge Sánchez-Infante: Performance and Sport Rehabilitation Laboratory, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: The present study aimed to determine the epidemiology of sport-related injuries in amateur and professional adolescent athletes and the incidence of different risk factors on those injuries. Four hundred ninety-eight athletes aged 14 to 21 voluntarily participated in this prospective injury surveillance, conducted from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. The information collected included: personal data, sports aspects, characteristics of the injuries, and lifestyle. Forty point four percent of the participants suffered an injury in 2019 (39% of them in a previously injured area). The average injury rate was 2.64 per 1000 h. Soccer presented the highest rate (7.21). The most common injuries were: lumbar muscle strains (12.24%), ankle sprains (11.98%), and bone fractures (9.31%). Ankles (36.12%), knees (19.32%), and shoulders (6.47%) concentrated the highest number of injuries. Fifty-nine point twenty-eight percent of the injuries occurred during practices, and 40.72% during competition or peri-competition. Higher injury rates were associated (in this order) with the following factors: (a) Greater number of hours of practice per week. (b) Not performing warm-ups. (c) Using inadequate sports facilities. (d) Being aged 14–17. (e) Not performing physical preparation. (f) Inappropriate training load. (g) Not performing injury-preventive activities. (h) Performing sports technique without the supervision of one sports coach. (i) Inadequate sports equipment. In conclusion, since most injury risk factors are modifiable, it is imperative to implement strategies to reduce amateur and professional adolescent athletes’ injury rates.

Keywords: sports injuries; epidemiology; injury rate; adolescent athletes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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