Association between the Type of Sport and Injuries among Athlete Students, 2006

METHOD: A total of 232 pupils, 140 boys and 92 girls aged 11 to 19, completed a self-administered questionnaire. This represents 77.3% of the total school population. In this cross-sectional study, the magnitude of the association was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression models, multinomial logistic regression and correspondence analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of injuries in the last year was 71.7%. The injury prevalence by type of sport was 82.0% in contact sports and 64.9% in non-contact sports. There was no significant difference by gender in injury occurrence. The injury occurrence was significantly associated (p<0.01) with the type of sport (POR: 2.46; 95%CI: 1.29-4.71) and the need to wear protective equipment (POR: 2.30; 95%CI: 1.27-4.17). However, after adjusting for confounders, there was no association between the type of sport and injury occurrence. The type of injury was not significantly associated with the athlete's gender, age, and type of sport. The most injured anatomical areas were the low extremities, specifically the knee (30.2% in non-contact sports) and ankle (30.1% in contact sports). Most injuries occurred during training sessions (74.2%), in the evening (72.7%) and are due to overuse (47.4%). Having an injury by more than 2 weeks was more related with athletes aged 14 to 16. CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of sports injuries during the last year and by type of sport suggests the need for developing and implementing monitoring and prevention programs toward the young athlete.