Sports Injury Statistics

A large number of people in the world participate in one form or another of various sports, and every year more than 25 percent of athletes are injured and forced to give up games for some time. In our century, the most common injuries are dislocations and sprains.

Some of the sports are much more dangerous than others. For example, contact sports such as football can lead to more injuries than non-contact sports such as swimming. Although in all games, you can be injured, whether due to contact with other athletes or due to improper performance or non-compliance with safety regulations.

Judging by data from various sources, sports injuries make up 2-5% of the total number of casualties (domestic, street, industrial, etc.) Injuries in different sports are not the same. The reason for this depends on specifics of the training and competitive processes and from preferences for different sports in people.

In 2007, the National University Sports Association (NCAA) provided data on 182,000 injuries - more than 1,000,000 sports reports over 16 years. These data are from all sports competitions of that period both in the USA and the CIS countries 13.8 that the injury rates were statistically higher in competitions (13.8 injuries per 1000 tournaments) than in training (4.0 injuries per 1000 pieces of practice). Light injuries account for 91.1%, moderate injuries - 7.8%, and severe injuries - 1.1% of the total. A long-term study of the localization of lesions in athletes is favorable for identifying the most vulnerable parts of the musculoskeletal system. The most susceptible link today remains the knee joint, which accounts for half the cases of the entire pathology of OA. Next is the foot, ankle, injuries, and diseases of which are observed in 10% of athletes. Almost 10% of the pathology occurs in the lumbar and thoracic spine.

It should be noted a relatively large percentage of the amounts of the pathology of the lower leg and foot, and they account for about 6%. Another 5% of the pathology occurs in the thigh, shoulder joint, and hand. About 3.5% of the pathology is revealed on the elbow joint area, and from 2.5 to 2.5% of the pathology on the remaining localizations.

Injury rates:

• The leading cause of death from a sports injury is a head injury.
• Sports and recreational activities lead to 21% of the total number of all traumatic brain injuries among athletes.
• Almost 50% of head injuries sustained in sports or recreational activities occur during cycling, skateboarding, or skating accidents.

 Where and when:

Quite serious injuries occur in sports that involve contact and collisions. Much more severe injuries occur during individual sports and recreational activities. The vast majority of sports injuries (62%) occur during training.

Types of sports and leisure activities

Estimated injury statistics for 2009 from the Commission on the Safety of Consumer Goods:

• Basketball. More than 50% of respondents were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to basketball.
• Bicycle. More than 70% also received treatment in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with a bike.
• Football. 80% of football players were treated in emergency rooms in hospitals due to injuries associated with football.
• Hockey. More than 60% of respondents were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with playing hockey.
• Trampolines. 38% of the athletes surveyed received treatment in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to ski jumps.