Citation

Mello MJ, Myers R, Christian JB, Palmisciano L, Linakis JG. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2009; 16(3): 243-248.

Affiliation

From the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital (MJM, RM, LP, JL), Providence, RI; and the Department of Emergency Medicine (MJM, LP, JL), the Department of Community Health (MJM, JC), and the Department of Pediatrics (LP, JL), Alpert Medical S

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1553-2712.2009.00357.x

PMID

19210487

Abstract

Objectives: Limited research exists describing youth football injuries, and many of these are confined to specific regions or communities. The authors describe U.S. pediatric football injury patterns receiving emergency department (ED) evaluation and compare injury patterns between the younger and older youth football participants. Methods: A retrospective analysis of ED data on football injuries was performed using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program. Injury risk estimates were calculated over a 5-year period (2001-2005) using participation data from the National Sporting Goods Association. Injury types are described for young (7-11 years) and adolescent (12-17 years) male football participants. Results: There were an estimated total of 1,060,823 visits to U.S. EDs for males with football-related injuries. The most common diagnoses in the younger group (7-11 years) were fracture/dislocation (29%), sprain/strain (27%), and contusion (27%). In the older group (ages 12-17 years), diagnoses included sprain/strain (31%), fracture/dislocation (29%), and contusion (23%). Older participants had a significantly higher injury risk of injury over the 5-year study period: 11.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.2 to 12.8) versus 6.1 (95% CI = 4.8 to 7.3) per 1,000 participants/year. Older participants had a higher injury risk across all categories, with the greatest disparity being with traumatic brain injury (TBI), 0.8 (95% CI = 0.6 to 1.0) versus 0.3 (95% CI = 0.2 to 0.4) per 1,000 participants/year. Conclusions: National youth football injury patterns are similar to those previously reported in community and cohort studies. Older participants have a significantly higher injury risk, especially with TBI. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2009; 16:1-6 (c) 2009 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Keywords: American football;

Language: en