A study published in this month’s Journal of Athletic Training reports that injuries to high school athletes occur more frequently in games than in practices.

The independent study was conducted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University and published in the scientific publication of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. The study compares the types and numbers of injuries among high school athletes participating in five boys’ sports (football, soccer, basketball, wrestling and baseball) and four girls’ sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball).

High school athletes participating in these nine sports sustained an estimated 1.4 million injuries nationally during the 2005-06 academic year. Most injuries affected the lower and upper extremities, followed by the head/face/neck and trunk. The most frequently injured body parts were the ankle, the head/face and the thigh/upper leg.

The average injury rate was 2.5 injuries per 1,000 practices or competitions. Rates were higher in competition (4.6 injuries per thousand competition exposures) than in practice (1.7 injuries per thousand player practice exposures).

In practices, the highest rate of injury occurred in football (2.5), followed by wrestling (2.0) and boys’ soccer (1.6). In competition, the highest rate of injury occurred in football (12.1), followed by girls’ (5.2) and boys’ (4.2) soccer.

“Given the growing population of high school athletes along with the important physical and social benefits of sport participation, reducing sport injury rates is a high priority,” said Dawn Comstock from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Continued surveillance is warranted to monitor changes in injury patterns over time and to assess the effects of rule and equipment changes.”

The report is available here.