Citation

Jacobson BH, Redus B, Palmer T. Br. J. Sports Med. 2005; 39(4): 237-240.

Affiliation

Oklahoma State University, School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bjsm.2004.014605

PMID

15793095

PMCID

PMC1725182

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Over 50% of all catastrophic injuries in women's sport occur in cheerleading, but unlike other sports, no central tracking system exists. OBJECTIVE: To obtain, describe, and compare cheerleading injury data and associated factors. METHODS: Cheerleaders from randomly chosen division IA universities completed surveys designed to acquire basic information and data on injury frequency, type, and location, practice frequency and duration, and related factors. RESULTS: Participants (n = 440) were aged 18-23 (mean (SD) 20.2 (1.8)) with 6.6 (2.2) years of experience. Most respondents (78%) reported having suffered one or more career injury. Of those injured, 39.7% reported an injury within the preceding year. Respondents sustained 1.0 (0.91) injuries during the preceding year with 1.8 (2.2) days lost. Ankles (44.9%) and wrist/hand (19.3%) were the most commonly injured. Practice frequency and duration were 205 (61.5) days a year (range 80-300) and 2.8 (0.7) hours (range 1.5-4) respectively. Training included stretching (99.7%), endurance activities (87.1%), and weight training (92.9%). CONCLUSION: Guidelines and policy governing cheerleading should be developed according to mandatory injury reporting similar to that currently used in other sports.