Journal of athletic training
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To review 15 years of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) injury surveillance data for men's soccer and to identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives. ⋯ Sprains, contusions, and strains of the lower extremities were the most common injuries in men's collegiate soccer, with player-to-player contact the primary injury mechanism during games. Preventive efforts should focus on the player-to-player contact that often leads to these injuries and greater enforcement of the rules that are in place to limit their frequency and severity. Emphasis also should be placed on addressing the high rate of first-time and recurrent ankle ligament sprains.
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To review 16 years of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) injury surveillance data for men's football and identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives. ⋯ Football is a complex sport that requires a range of skills performed by athletes with a wide variety of body shapes and types. Injury risks are greatest during games. Thus, injury prevention measures should focus on position-specific activities to reduce the injury rate. As equipment technology improves for the helmet, shoulder pads, and other protective devices, appropriate injury surveillance procedures should be performed to determine the effect of the new equipment on injury rates. A consistent evaluation of injury trends and patterns will assist decision makers in designing injury prevention techniques in areas that warrant the greatest attention and suggesting rule changes and modifications based on the data.
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To review 16 years of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) injury surveillance data for men's basketball and identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives. ⋯ These results provide the most comprehensive description of injury patterns in NCAA men's basketball to date. Many of the most common injuries seen in men's basketball, such as ankle ligament sprains and knee internal derangements, may be at least partially preventable with interventions such as taping and bracing and neuromuscular training. However, randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of such preventive measures among collegiate men's basketball players are clearly lacking. The increase in head and facial injuries may indicate that officials need to assess the increased tolerance for physical contact in men's basketball seen over the past 2 decades.
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To review 4 years of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) injury surveillance data for women's ice hockey and to identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives. ⋯ Women's ice hockey is an evolving NCAA sport. Only 4 years of ISS data are available and, therefore, data should be interpreted with caution. Women's ice hockey does not allow for formal body checking; however, approximately 50% of all game injuries were reported to result from contact with another player. Future researchers need to evaluate the effectiveness of the no-checking rule. Additional years of data collection will be required to allow the data to become more stable, and to increase attention to mechanism-of-injury issues. We anticipate that the hypothesized inconsistencies in skill level across and within the various women's teams also will be reduced as more consistently skilled players develop, allowing for more stability in the injury scenario.
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To review 16 years of National Collegiate Athletic Association injury surveillance data for women's lacrosse and identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives. ⋯ To reduce the lower extremity injuries that comprise the greatest injury burden in women's lacrosse, future researchers should evaluate proprioceptive, plyometric, and balance training interventions designed specifically for female players. Other research areas of great interest involve determining whether protective eyewear (mandated in 2004) reduces injuries to the eye, orbit, and nasal area and identifying any unintended consequences of the mandate, such as increased risk of injuries to other areas of the face or more aggressive play.