Wrestling poses greatest risk for athletes, researchers find — 5 highlights

Orthopedic Sports Medicine

Researchers from Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention in Indianapolis found football accounts for the most sports injuries each year and wrestling was the most dangerous, according to U.S. News & World Report.

In the study, researchers analyzed data on NCAA athletes' injuries in 25 sports between 2009 to 2010 and 2013 to 2014. In total, the researchers examined data on 1,053,370 injuries over the five years of the study, for an average of 210,674 injuries per year.

 

The CDC will publish the study in the Dec. 11 of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

 

Here are five highlights:

 

1. Football accounted for more than 47,000 injuries per year.

 

2. Football had the highest rate of injuries during competition with 40 injuries per 1,000 times an athlete engaged in the sport. When researchers factored in the relatively low rate of practice-linked injuries, the injury rate fell to 9.2 injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures.

 

3. The study indicated wrestling poses the highest risk for injury for male college athletes with an overall rate of more than 13 injuries per 1,000 exposures.

 

4. More injuries occurred during practices than during competition in every sport expect men's hockey and baseball. Approximately 64 percent of injuries occurred during practices.

 

5. Of all the injuries, only 4 percent required surgery and less than 1 percent needed emergency transport.

 

More articles on sports medicine:
Football legend John Madden recovering from open heart surgery — 3 takeaways
Dr. James Andrews performs surgery on New Orleans Saints' Mark Ingram — 3 things to know
Dr. Martin O'Malley to perform ankle surgery on Nets' Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: 4 notes

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Webinars

Featured Whitepapers

Most Read - Sports Medicine