Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 May;42(2):146-53.
doi: 10.3810/psm.2014.05.2066.

Epidemiology of basketball, soccer, and volleyball injuries in middle-school female athletes

Kim D Barber Foss  1 , Greg D Myer, Timothy E Hewett
Affiliations

Epidemiology of basketball, soccer, and volleyball injuries in middle-school female athletes

Kim D Barber Foss et al. Phys Sportsmed. 2014 May.

Abstract

Background: An estimated 30 to 40 million school children participate in sports in the United States; 34% of middle-school participants become injured and seek medical treatment at an annual cost close to $2 billion. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the injury incidence and rates in female athletes in the middle-school setting during the course of 3 seasons.

Methods: Female basketball, soccer, and volleyball players were recruited from a single county public school district in Kentucky consisting of 5 middle schools. A total of 268 female athletes (162 basketball, 26 soccer, and 80 volleyball) participated. Athletes were monitored for sports-related injury and number of athlete exposures (AEs) by an athletic trainer. Injury rates were calculated for specific types of injuries within each sport. Injury rates for games and practices were also calculated and compared for each sport.

Results: A total of 134 injuries were recorded during the 3 sport seasons. The knee was the most commonly injured body part (99 injuries [73.9%]), of which patellofemoral dysfunction (31.3%), Osgood-Schlatter disease (10.4%), and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson/patella tendinosis (9%) had the greatest incidence. The ankle was the second most commonly injured body part, accounting for 16.4% of all injuries. The overall rates of injury by sport were as follows: soccer, 6.66 per 1000 AEs; volleyball, 3.68 per 1000 AEs; and basketball, 2.86 per 1000 AEs.

Conclusions: Female middle-school athletes displayed comparable injury patterns to those seen in their high-school counterparts. Future work is warranted to determine the potential for improved outcomes in female middle-school athletes with access to athletic training services.

Clinical relevance: As the participation levels and number of injuries continue to rise, middle-school athletes demonstrate an increasing need for medical services provided by a certified athletic trainer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement

Kim D. Barber Foss, MS, ATC, Greg D. Myer, PhD, and Timothy E. Hewett, PhD, have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Injuries by body part across all 3 sports.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Injuries by type across all 3 sports.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Soccer injuries by body part.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Volleyball injuries by body part.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Basketball injuries by body part.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adirim TA, Cheng TL. Overview of injuries in the young athlete. Sports Med. 2003;33(1):75–81. - PubMed
    1. McGuine T. Sports injuries in high school athletes: a review of injury-risk and injury-prevention research. Clin J Sport Med. 2006;16(6):488–499. - PubMed
    1. Franklin CC, Weiss JM. Stopping sports injuries in kids: an overview of the last year in publications. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2012;24(1):64–67. - PubMed
    1. Knowles SB, Marshall SW, Bowling JM, et al. A prospective study of injury incidence among North Carolina high school athletes. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164(12):1209–1221. - PubMed
    1. Burt CW, Overpeck MD. Emergency visits for sports-related injuries. Ann Emerg Med. 2001;37(3):301–308. - PubMed

Publication types