HEALTH CARE for RURAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES: INJURY RATES, RISK FACTORS, and IMPLICATIONS: a PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS a Thesis Prese
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HEALTH CARE FOR RURAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES: INJURY RATES, RISK FACTORS, AND IMPLICATIONS: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Health and Human Services of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Erin M. Driscoll August 2007 2 This thesis titled HEALTH CARE FOR RURAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES: INJURY RATES, RISK FACTORS, AND IMPLICATIONS: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS by ERIN M. DRISCOLL has been approved for the School of Recreation and Sport Sciences and the College of Health and Human Services by Chad Starkey Visiting Professor of Recreation and Sport Sciences Gary S. Neiman Dean, College of Health and Human Services 3 Abstract DRISCOLL, ERIN M., M.S., August 2007, Athletic Training Education HEALTH CARE FOR RURAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES: INJURY RATES, RISK FACTORS, AND IMPLICATIONS: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS (74 pp.) Director ofThesis: Chad Starkey Objective: To determine the rate and risk of injury associated with high school athletic participation and assess the licensed athletic trainer’s (LAT) role as the point of first contact for non-athletic orthopedic and nonorthopedic conditions suffered by nonathletes and athletes. Participants: Eight southeastern Ohio high schools with 2,202 athletes, ranging in age from 13 to 19 (15.8±1.2). Methods: Injury information was submitted to the researchers by the LAT. Main Outcome Measures: Frequency, clinical incidence rates, and injury rates. Results: Over 3 seasons 651 orthopedic and 41 nonorthopedic conditions were reported. Twenty-one of the 651 orthopedic injuries were non-athletic related. Football sustained the most injuries. Strains (24.7%) were the most common orthopedic injury. Influenza (14.6%) was the most common nonorthopedic condition. Conclusion: Injury rates were higher than previous literature. Lower extremity was consistent with literature for most frequently injured body area. Nonorthopedic conditions were reported higher than other research. Key Words: Epidemiology, High School, Injuries Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Chad Starkey Visiting Professor of Recreation and Sports Sciences 4 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge and thank my committee members, Dr. Starkey, Dr. Seegmiller, and Dr. White, for their support, insight, and wisdom over the past year. Without your help this would still be just an idea. I would specifically like to thank Dr. Starkey for everything he has done in this project. He has spent countless hours editing my writing and helping me run the statistics on this thesis. I would also like to thank Megan Lindley for her help with the data collection and helping me to get our collection instruments finalized before football started in the fall. And finally thank you to all the Ohio University graduate assistants at the eight high schools used in this study. Your dedication to this project is truly appreciated. Without your help there would have been no data to analyze. 5 Table of Contents ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ..........................................................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................8 Problem Description...................................................................................................................................9 Purpose Statement ......................................................................................................................................9 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................................9 Purpose of the Study.................................................................................................................................10 Delimitations of the Study........................................................................................................................10 Limitations of the Study ...........................................................................................................................11 Definition of Terms ..................................................................................................................................11 Athletic exposure .................................................................................................................................11 Athletic trainer.....................................................................................................................................11 Clinical incidence rate.........................................................................................................................11 Incidence rate ......................................................................................................................................12 Injury rate (IR).....................................................................................................................................12 Injury risk ............................................................................................................................................12 Prevalence ...........................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................13 Injury Surveillance in the High School Setting ........................................................................................14 Measure of Injury Frequency....................................................................................................................15 Athletic Exposure.................................................................................................................................15 Injury Rate ...........................................................................................................................................16 Incidence Rate .....................................................................................................................................16 Injury Risk............................................................................................................................................17 Clinical Incidence................................................................................................................................17 Time-Lost Injury Rate ..........................................................................................................................17 Prevelance ...........................................................................................................................................18 Measure of Injury Severity.......................................................................................................................18 Subject Populations ..................................................................................................................................19 Injury Definitions .....................................................................................................................................19 Injury Analysis .........................................................................................................................................22 Catastrophic Events.............................................................................................................................23 Orthopedic Injuries..............................................................................................................................25 General Medical Conditions................................................................................................................29 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................29 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ............................................................................................................................30 Subjects ....................................................................................................................................................30 Instrumentation.........................................................................................................................................30 Procedures ................................................................................................................................................31 Statistical Analysis ...................................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS ..............................................................................................................................33 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................33