Skin infections accounted for only eight percent of time-loss events in wrestling this season, according to a report on winter sports injuries from the NCAA's Injury Surveillance System (ISS). This represents a 20 to 23 percent drop from the past few years.

The decrease may be related to the newly required skin checks at all regular-season matches.

Overall, the 1995-96 practice- and match-injury rates for wrestling were similar to an 11-year average. Knee, shoulder and ankle injuries were the most common. Thirty-five percent of the reported injuries resulted in time loss of a week or more.

In other sports, women's basketball figures are relatively higher for practice and stable for games over the past four years, although both 1995-96 values were greater than eight-year averages. The ankle, knee and lower back were the top three body parts injured. Twenty percent of the injuries restricted or prevented participation for seven days or more. For the seventh consecutive year, female players had an anterior-cruciate injury rate that was almost three times that of their male counterparts.

Men's basketball's trend toward higher injury rates in both practice and games over the last four years continued. The current game-injury rate of 13.1 is the highest recorded in the eight years of surveillance of the sport; however, the ankle and knee were the top body parts injured. Approximately 25 percent of reported injuries resulted in time loss for a week or more.

Men's ice hockey showed the highest game-injury rate reported in 10 years of surveillance of the sport; however, the sport's practice rate remains one of the lowest of 16 sports monitored through the year. Shoulder and knee injuries continue to be the most common. Head injuries, primarily concussions, continue to remain high in ice hockey. Approximately one-third of the reported injuries resulted in a time loss of at least one week.

The practice-injury rate for men's gymnastics was similar to the sport's 10-year average. The match injury rate was significantly lower than the sport's 10-year average but may be influenced by a small sample size rather than the true injury risk. The knee, shoulder and lower leg were the top three body parts injured. Forty-six percent of the reported 1995 injuries resulted in restricted or no participation for more than seven days.

Women's gymnastics showed a practice-injury rate that was greater than the sport's 11-year average and a match injury rate that was less than the average. The ankle, knee and lower back were the top three body parts injured. Thirty-eight percent of the reported 1995 injuries resulted in restricted or no participation for more than seven days.

Base line of data

The survey, conducted as part of the NCAA Injury Surveillance System, provides a base line of injury data from a national sampling.

Researchers should be cautious when comparing the results with injury data from other studies, since no common definition of injury, measure of severity or evaluation of exposure exists in the athletics-injury literature. The information contained must be evaluated under the definitions and methodology outlined for the ISS.

The ISS was developed in 1982 to provide current and reliable data on injury trends in intercollegiate athletics. Injury data are collected yearly from a representative sample of NCAA member institutions and the resulting data summaries are reviewed by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. The committee's goal continues to be to reduce injury rates through suggested changes in rules, protective equipment or coaching techniques based on data provided by the Injury Surveillance System.

Sampling

Exposure and injury data were submitted weekly by athletics trainers from institutions selected to represent a cross-section of the NCAA membership. The cross-section was based on the three divisions of the NCAA and the four geographical regions of the country. The selected institutions composed a minimum 10 percent sample of the membership sponsoring the sport; therefore, the resulting data should be representative of the total population of NCAA institutions.

It is important to note that this system does not identify every injury that occurs at NCAA institutions in a particular sport. Rather, it collects a sampling that is representative of a cross-section of NCAA institutions.

Exposures

An athlete-exposure (A-E) is one athlete participating in one practice or game in which he or she is exposed to the possibility of athletics injury. For example, five practices, each involving 60 participants, and one game involving 40 participants would result in a total of 340 A-Es for a particular week.

Injuries

A reportable injury in the Injury Surveillance System is defined as one that:

1. Occurred as a result of participation in an organized intercollegiate practice or game, and

2. Required medical attention by a team athletics trainer or physician, and

3. Resulted in restriction of the student-athlete's participation or performance for one or more days beyond the day of injury.

Injury rate

An injury rate is a ratio of the number of injuries in a particular category to the number of athlete-exposures in that category. This value is then multiplied by 1,000 to produce an injury rate per 1,000 athlete-exposures. For example, six reportable injuries during a period of 563 athlete-exposures would give an injury rate of 10.7 injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures [(six divided by 563) times 1,000].

Additional information on the report is available from Randall W. Dick, NCAA assistant director of sports sciences, at the national office.