The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- July 5, 1999

ACL injuries in women's basketball far exceed the rate in men's game

The practice anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rate for women's basketball was seven times as high as the men's rate and the game ACL injury rate was five times as high for men, according to a report of 1998-99 winter sports injuries from the Association's Injury Surveillance System (ISS).

Thirty-four percent of reported injuries resulted in restricted participation or no participation for seven days or more.

Women's basketball showed practice (4.4) and game (9.2) injury rates that were consistent with the 11-year average for the sport. Assuming 12 game participants, the game rate equates to one injury every nine games in the sport.

Ankle, knees and feet are the top three body parts injured and account for 49 percent of all reported practice injuries in the sport. Of all reported game injuries, 58 percent were attributed to ankle, knee and head injuries. Sprains, strains and contusions were the top three types of injuries. Head injuries, primarily concussions, accounted for 8 percent of all game injuries, while more than 45 percent of all game injuries involved contact with another player.

Men's basketball

Men's basketball showed a practice (4.3) and game (10.3) injury rate that was consistent with the 11-year average for the sport. Assuming 12 game participants, the game rate equates to one injury every eight games in the sport.

Ankle, knees and the upper leg area were the top three body parts injured and accounted for 48 percent of all reported injuries in both practices and games. The top three types of injuries were sprains, strains and contusions, accounting for 63 percent of all reported practice injuries and 68 percent of all reported game injuries. Sprains, strains and contusions have remained the top three types of injuries for the past 11 years.

Twenty-five percent of reported injuries resulted in restricted participation or no participation for seven days or more. Almost one-half of the game injuries in men's basketball occurred within the free-throw lane, and more than one-half of game injuries involved player contact.

Ice hockey

Practice injury rates in ice hockey remained consistent for the third year in a row. The value of 2.1 injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures (A-E) was similar to the 13-year average for the sport. The 1998-99 game-injury rate of 17.0 also was similar to the 13-year average. Assuming 15 game participants, the game rate equates to one injury every four games in the sport.

For the second year in a row, the knee, shoulder and pelvis/hip area were the top three body parts injured Strains, sprains and contusions were the top three types of injuries, accounting for 64 percent of all reported injuries in practice and 59 percent in games. The concussion injury rate was the lowest in five years. Forty percent of all injuries resulted in restricted participation or no participation for seven days or more.

Wrestling

Wrestling showed 1998-99 practice (6.3) and match (25.5) injury rates that were some of the lowest recorded in the 14-year surveillance for the sport. The results may be an indirect result of the wrestling weight-loss modifications that went into effect last season; more years of data will be needed to validate that hypothesis.

Skin infections continue to cause a significant time loss in the sport, accounting for 15 percent of all reported injuries in practice.

Knees, shoulders and head were the top three body parts injured in practice and accounted for 34 percent of the reported injuries. Fifty-four percent of match-related injuries occurred with the knee, shoulder and ankle. The top three types of match-related injuries included sprains, strains and dislocations.

Thirty-three percent of reported injuries resulted in restricted or no participation for seven days or more. The 133-pound weight class accounted for 16 percent of all reported injuries.

Women's gymnastics

Women's gymnastics showed practice (4.9) and meet (14.6) injury rates that were below the 14-year average for the sport.

Ankles, knees and lower backs were the top three body parts injured and account for 50 percent of all reported practice injuries and 67 percent of all reported game injuries. Sprains, strains and contusions were the top types of reported injuries.

Thirty-nine percent of reported injuries resulted in restricted participation or no participation for seven days or more. Thirty-nine percent of all reported practice injuries and 34 percent of all reported meet injuries occurred during the floor exercise.

About the survey

The survey, conducted as part of the ISS, provides a baseline of injury data from a national sampling.

Randall W. Dick, NCAA assistant director of sports sciences, said that researchers should be cautious when comparing ISS results with injury data from other studies.

"No common definition of injury, measure of severity or evaluation of exposure exists in athletics-injury literature," Dick said. "The information in the summary 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 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 ISS data.

Exposure and injury data were submitted weekly by athletic trainers from institutions selected to represent a cross section of 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 amount to a minimum 10-percent sample of the membership sponsoring the sport; therefore, the resulting data should represent the total population of NCAA institutions.

The 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 the NCAA.

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 ISS 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 athletic 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 [(6 divided by 563) x 1,000].

Additional information on the report is available from the sports sciences staff at the NCAA national office.

The accompanying tables highlight selected information from the winter 1998-99 ISS. When appropriate, injury rates and game-practice percentages are compared to an average value calculated from all years in which ISS data has been collected in a specific sport.