Epidemiology Of Varsity Sports :: essays research papers fc

Epidemiology of Varsity SportsVarsity sports is in many schools as important as academics, especiallyin the United States. These schools rely a great deal on the success of theirteams for financial stability and enrollment interest. The athletes as welltake their sport very seriously, if except for the sake of their pride.It thence follows that each team strives to be the very best, andonly 100% effort is enough. Unfortunately, when competition climaxes, more oftenthan not injuries result.This study is a synopsis of the information collected in a number of pastarticles concerned with injuries incurred by collegiate athletes in manydifferent varsity sports. For the purpose of this study, an injury has been specify as any abnormal condition that has caused an athlete to be removed frompractice or competition for one or more days, because performance has beenafflicted (Hanes and Murray, 1982). The following statistics will deal withinjuries of collegiate sports incurred by athletes involved in Mens and WomensBasketball, Baseball, Gymnastics and Track and Field, Mens Soccer, andWrestling, and Womens Field Hockey.BASKETBALLThe study of the personality and extent of athletic injuries Occuring inWomens Basketball by Hanes and Murray in 1982 found an injury rate of 41.7 per100 players. Of these injuries 56.9% were ankle sprains, 24.1% were musclestrains. 76.2% of the sprains and strains occurred to the lower extremities.Injured fingers ( which were the only upper extremity injuries) accounted for14.3% of the injuries and 4.8% of the injuries were reported as facial.All information for this study was collected through the use of injuryforms completed by the coaches, and information forms by each player, injured ornot.In a separate study for the American Journal of Sports Medicine byClarke and Buckley in 1980 on injuries incurred in collegiate Womens Basketball,there was an injury rate of 20.3 per 100 players. There was a reportedincidence of 53% sprains, and 4% st rains. 40% of all injuries sustained were tothe lower extremities.In the same study Clarke and Buckley found similar results in MensVarsity Basketball to that of the Womens. The men reported 20.7 per 100players suffering injuries, 54% of those being sprains, 6% being strains with37% of the injuries Occuring to the lower extremity.All the data collected by Clarke and Buckley was received from theNational Athletic Injury/ Illness Recording System (NAIRS).baseballClark and Buckley have also examined Mens and Womens Baseball in theirstudy The reported injury rate for this particular sport was 9.2% (mens) and8.7% (womens). Sprains occurred 37% and 40% respectively, strains accounted