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A comparison of injury rates in organised sports, with special emphasis on American bull riding

Authors:
  • Oklahoma Health Care Authority
  • Banff Sport Medicine

Abstract and Figures

Objective: The authors set out to determine which sport in the literature has the highest injury rates. Data sources: A systematic review of sports injury studies was performed using the PubMed database on the National Library of Medicine website, using the key words: “Injury Incidence” in combination with each of the sports: “boxing,” “football,” “hockey,” “rodeo,” “rugby,” and “soccer.” Study section: Using a 3-round selection process, 2021 papers were reviewed. Those papers that did not report injury rates as a function of time were excluded. Data extraction: Each paper underwent an independent review by two authors. Injury rates from the papers reporting the top 5 injury rates for each sport were recorded and placed into an electronic spreadsheet for comparison. All selected studies reported injury rates as a function of time, although the unit of time was not always the same; therefore, simple extrapolation was made for all studies to make the unit of time in hours. Data synthesis: The injury rate in bull riding was found to be 1440 injuries/1000 exposure hours; 1.56 times greater than amateur boxing, 1.75 times greater than semi-professional rugby, 10.3 times greater than American football, and 13.3 times greater than ice hockey. Conclusions: The authors conclude that injury rates vary widely between contact sports and that American bull riding is the most dangerous organised, spectator
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Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
78
ISMJ
International SportMed
Journal
Review article
A comparison of injury rates in organised sports, with special emphasis
on American bull riding
*1
Dr Mark A Brandenburg, MD,
2
Mr Dale J Butterwick, ATC-C,
3
Dr Laurie A Hiemstra,
MD,
4
Dr Robert Nebergall, DO,
4
Mr Justin Laird, ATC
1
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
2
Department of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada
3
Banff Sport Medicine Group, in Banff, Alberta, Canada
4
Oklahoma State University Sports Medicine Team, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Abstract
Objective: The authors set out to determine which sport in the literature has the highest injury rates. Data
sources: A systematic review of sports injury studies was performed using the PubMed database on the
National Library of Medicine website, using the key words: “Injury Incidence” in combination with each of the
sports: “boxing,” “football,” “hockey,” “rodeo,” “rugby,” and “soccer.” Study section: Using a 3-round selection
process, 2021 papers were reviewed. Those papers that did not report injury rates as a function of time were
excluded. Data extraction: Each paper underwent an independent review by two authors. Injury rates from
the papers reporting the top 5 injury rates for each sport were recorded and placed into an electronic
spreadsheet for comparison. All selected studies reported injury rates as a function of time, although the unit
of time was not always the same; therefore, simple extrapolation was made for all studies to make the unit of
time in hours. Data synthesis: The injury rate in bull riding was found to be 1440 injuries/1000 exposure
hours; 1.56 times greater than amateur boxing, 1.75 times greater than semi-professional rugby, 10.3 times
greater than American football, and 13.3 times greater than ice hockey. Conclusions: The authors conclude
that injury rates vary widely between contact sports and that American bull riding is the most dangerous
organised, spectator sport in the world. Keywords: sport injuries, injury rates, bull riding, sport injury
epidemiology
*Dr Mark A Brandenburg, MD
Dr Brandenburg is the Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of
Oklahoma’s College of Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He also serves as the Projects Director at the
Oklahoma Institute for Disaster and Emergency Medicine, and is the Programme Director of the Emergency
Medicine residency training programme currently in development. He supervises a broad array of research
activities in the areas of trauma, injury prevention and rodeo medicine. Dr Brandenburg’s work on head
injuries and protective headgear in bull riding has played a pivotal role in the growing popularity of the use of
helmets in this sport.
Recent honours include: C.T. Thompson Excellence in Trauma Care Award, Oklahoma State Medical
Association Award for best scientific publication in the OSMA Journal, and the University of Oklahoma
Crimson Apple Award for Medical Education Excellence.
*
Corresponding author. Address at the end of text.
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
79
Mr Dale Butterwick, ATC-C
Mr Butterwick is a Faculty Member of the Department of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, in Alberta,
Canada. He is also the Past President of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Sport Medicine Team, providing medical
support and injury management for professional rodeos, and the Professional Bull Riders Association in
Canada. He has published numerous sport medicine papers and has conducted the only large-scale
epidemiological studies on the sport of rodeo.
Recent honours include: Induction into the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association Hall of Fame (2006);
Induction into the University of Lethbridge Alumni Honor Society (2007).
Email: butterwi@ucalgary.ca
Dr Laurie Hiemstra, MD
Dr Hiemstra is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon with sport medicine fellowship training. Having recently left
the academic setting at the University of Calgary, she is currently in private practice with the Banff Sport
Medicine Group, in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Dr Hiemstra specialises in winter sports-related injuries and rodeo
medicine. She and Dale Butterwick organised and hosted the First International Conference on Rodeo
Medicine and Clinical Care.
Emails: hiemstra@banffsportmed.ca
Dr Robert Nebergall, DO
Dr Nebergall is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. USA. He is the Medical Director of the
Tulsa Regional Medical Center Sports Medicine Team, attending athletes in a broad spectrum of sporting
events, including NCAA college football, college wrestling, semi-professional hockey, NCAA college
basketball, semi-professional baseball and professional rodeo. He serves as the medical director at the
International Finals Rodeo every year in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
Email: rnebergall@sbcglobal.net or julieg@tulsaorthosrg.com
Mr Justin Laird, ATC
Justin Laird is the Coordinator of the Tulsa Regional Medical Center Sports Medicine Team, USA. He has
worked for 8 years as athletic trainer in hockey, college wrestling, football, soccer and professional rodeo.
Email: julieg@tulsaorthosrg.com
Introduction
Researchers in sports medicine and injury
prevention today use injury epidemiological data
and statistics to guide them in making
recommendations to sporting organisations and
promoters on improving rules, regulations, and
equipment to make sports safer and more
meaningful for participants and spectators. Injury
epidemiological data in the medical literature
allow for comparative analyses to be conducted
on various sporting activities. Despite the
availability of this data, evidence-based
conclusions about which spectator sport is the
most dangerous have yet to be made.
American rodeo is a truly American sport with
roots deeply embedded in the Old West heritage
of the working cowboy. (1) Rough stock events
(i.e. bull riding, bareback riding and saddle
bronco riding) have been shown to have the
highest injury rates
2, 3, 4, 5
. Bull riding is a
mainstay event in American competition rodeo;
implicated in up to 31-37% of rodeo injuries,
making it the most dangerous event in rodeo
6, 7
.
The rate of injury associated with bull riding has
been shown to be two times higher than with
other major rodeo events (3.2 versus 1.39 per
100 competitor exposures)
8
. Bull riding
participants frequently suffer head and neck
injuries, sometimes resulting in permanent
neurological sequelae or death
9, 10
.
In an apparent effort to attract public attention
and fan support, many sports and other activities
have recently been referred to as ”extreme”,
including bull riding. In order to determine which
sports have the highest injury rates, this
investigation was created to compare injury rates
in such sports. Furthermore, in order to elucidate
the differences between such sports, the
importance of measuring injury as a function of
exposure time, rather than as competitions or
events, is illustrated in this present study. The
hypothesis of this study is that bull riders have the
highest reported injury rates per unit of time.
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
80
Methods
This project involved conducting a systematic
review of literature that has reported sport injury
rates as a function of time, and the prospective
collecting of exposure time data from American
professional bull riding events. The athletes were
professional bull riders in competitions at
Professional Bull Riders events, or at the
International Professional Rodeo Association
events, including the International Finals Rodeo
.
A. Systematic literature review
The purpose of the literature search was to
systematically review, identify and compare
studies reporting the highest injury rates for each
of the various sports. Since the goal was to find
the highest injury rates in sport, the authors did
not restrict the search by gender, age, or
classification of sport (i.e. extreme sports, contact
sports, high velocity sports, individual or team
sports), and included team sports with multiple
positions, such as ice hockey or football. To
allow comparison between the different sports,
the authors sought reported rates of injuries as a
function of time, usually per 1000 exposure
hours, the most widely used system for reporting
sport injury frequency
11
. No attempt was made
to meta-analyse the data as the authors were
only searching for studies that reported injury
rates approaching those found in the sport of bull
riding.
Round One:
Round One of the literature search
was to identify those publications in the English
language that report on the rate of injury for six
popular, organised sports: boxing, American
football, hockey, roller hockey, rugby and soccer.
These sports were chosen because they are
popular contact sports and likely to produce the
highest rates of injuries to athletes based upon
the clinical and research experience of the
authors. A literature search for sports injury
studies was performed using the PubMed
database on the National Library of Medicine
website. This search was based upon the
keywords: “Injury Incidence” in combination with
each of the sports: “boxing,” “football,” “hockey,”
“rugby,” and “soccer.” The term “incidence” was
used rather than “rate” in the search process
because it consistently generated the greatest
number of titles.
Inclusion criteria: The primary criteria for
selection were the reporting of data on the rate of
injuries as a function of exposure time (usually
reported as 1000 exposure hours). Each
selected paper met the following inclusion criteria:
1. Focused on one of the six contact sports
mentioned above;
2. Looked at all injuries occurring in the
specific sporting activity in question;
3. Reported the injury rate of the specific
sporting activity as a function of time.
Exclusion criteria: All titles were reviewed to
exclude papers that did not report the injury rate
of a sport, were not in English, or did not have
abstracts. All remaining abstracts were then
reviewed to exclude those that were not reporting
sport injury rate as a function of time. Papers
with any of the following exclusion criteria were
rejected:
1. Reported on any sport not included in the
group of contact sports listed above;
2. Looked only at one or a select group of
injury types;
3. Did not use exposure time as a
denominator in reporting the rate of
injury.
All titles were reviewed by each author to select
qualifying studies. Papers were excluded from
each round of consideration if both authors
agreed that exclusion had been met; otherwise,
the paper was promoted to the next round.
Round Two: Round Two involved reviewing the
abstracts of those titles promoted from Round
One. Upon reviewing the abstract, if both authors
made the determination that the paper did not
meet selection criteria then it was excluded from
further consideration.
Round Three: Round Three was the selection of
those abstracts reporting the highest injury rates
in each sport followed by the full article review.
Reviews were completed on the full manuscripts
of those studies reporting the highest injury rates
in each sport in a time-dependent manner. If
criteria for selection were met after each reviewer
read the paper, then the reported rate of injury
was recorded as a result for comparative analysis
(Table 1). Injury rates were converted to 1000
exposure hours (EH). The studies reporting the
top 5 injury rates from each sport were selected
and used in comparison to the injury rate data for
bull riding. If a particular sport is represented in
the literature by less than 5 papers, then reporting
of these rates was limited to the available data.
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
81
Table 1: The highest injury rates found in a systematic review of the medical literature, including the rates of
data subsets (i.e. defenders in ice hockey).
Highest
Injury Rates
Sport
(Injuries/
1000 EH) Design Country Reference
American Bull Riding 1440 Prospective
Canada/
USA
Butterwick DJ, Hagel B, et
al.
8
Amateur Boxing 920 Retrospective Ireland Porter M, O'Brien M.
12
Female Boxing 680 Retrospective USA Bledsoe GH, Li G, et al.
13
American Football
(High School) 140 Prospective USA
Anderson BL, Hoffman MD,
et al.
14
American Football 16 Prospective Germany
Baltzer AW, Ghadamgahi
PD, et al.
15
American Football
(High School) 3 Retrospective USA DeLee JC, Farney WC
16
Roller Hockey 304.9 Retrospective USA
Varlotta GP, Lager SL, et
al.
17
Ice Hockey 78.4 Prospective Sweden
Lorentzon R, Wedren H, et
al.
18
107.8 defense
Hockey (High School) 96.1
Prospective/
Retrospective
a
USA
Smith AM, Stuart MJ, et al.
19
Ice Hockey 66 Prospective Finland
Molsa J, Airaksinen O, et al.
20
Youth Ice Hockey
(ages 9-19) 50.9 M Prospective USA
Roberts WO, Brust JD, et
al.
21
64.8 M varsity
high school
Semi-Professional
Rugby 824.7 Prospective Australia Gabbett TJ
22
Amateur Rugby 694
b
Prospective Australia Gabbett TJ
23
Elite Rugby
(High School)
405.6 (<19
yrs)
Prospective Australia
Estell J, Shenstone B, et al.
11
Amateur Rugby
182.0
forwards Prospective Australia Gabbett TJ
24
English Professional
Rugby
139 Prospective UK
Stephenson S, Gissane C,
et al.
25
Soccer 44.4 Prospective USA
Putukian M, Knowles WK,
et al.
26
57.9 M
Soccer 50.4 M Prospective USA
Lindenfeld TN, Schmitt DJ,
et al.
27
50.3 F
Asian Football 64.7
d
Prospective Korea Yoon YS, Chai M, et al.
28
154.2
e
Professional Soccer 41.8
f
Prospective Sweden
Walden M, Hagglund M, et
al.
29
24
g
Professional Soccer 35.3 Prospective USA
Morgan BE, Oberlander MA
30
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
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Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
82
a
. Parents were responsible for
reporting player injury to the doctor
e
. Injury definition = complaints reported by
athletes
F = Female
M = Male
b
. 4th tournament match
f
. Match injury by English/Dutch teams
c
. Matches lost
g
. Match injury by other teams
d.
Injury definition = loss of playing
time
B. Data collection
Definition of bull riding exposure
The most recent prospective collection of injury
data in American rodeo reported injury rates in a
five-year prospective study of the Canadian
Professional Rodeo circuit
8
. In this article,
Butterwick reported injury rates from 30564
competitor exposures (CE) to a variety of rodeo
sporting events. The definition of competitor
exposure in that study was not time-dependent;
rather, it was defined as each time that one
competitor competed (attempted) in one event at
a rodeo (i.e. one bull ride).
This definition did not
measure the duration of the exposure. The
present comparative analysis requires such a
definition
Injuries in bull riding are known to occur as early
as when the rider first sits atop the animal while
still in the bucking chute (although this is
infrequent), thus the authors believe that the
exposure time should begin at that moment. For
the same reason (injuries infrequently occur to
riders after a successful disengagement from the
animal), the exposure time was concluded only
after either the animal exited the arena or the
rider reached the fence.
Units of measurement: The duration of an
exposure in bull riding is a matter of only seconds
and the reported injury rates are relatively high;
therefore, the units of injury rates initially were
recorded and are 1000 “Exposure Seconds”
(1000 ES). Data from other sports reported in
scientific citations were stated in “Exposure
Hours” (EH). The bull riding data were easily
computed into EH units for comparative analyses
using a ratio of 1/3.6.
Bull riding exposures: The authors
prospectively recorded the time of exposure in
seconds during 452 independent bull rides. Each
bull ride was performed by a professional bull
rider, at a sanctioned professional bull riding
event. Overall, there were 30 different
professional bull riding events at which they
collected data. Initially, one timer was used to
time the bull ride and to record the time.
However, this resulted in lost data as a second
ride could start (bull rider first sits atop a bull)
prior to the completion of the current ride. It is
unknown how many instances of lost data
occurred. However, for the last 22 events the
authors used two teams of timers, thus ensuring
that there was no lost data. Therefore the
average duration of a bull riding exposure was
determined by prospectively timing 452
professional bull riding exposures. This portion of
the study was not designed to collect injury data.
Thus the authors combined the mean exposure
time in this study to the injury rate in a five-year
epidemiological study which included bull riding
data, to determine the injury rate per unit of time
for bull riding
8
.
Results
A. Systematic Review
A total of 2021 titles were reviewed independently
by two authors. A total of 354 abstracts were
reviewed. The breakdown of the abstracts
reviewed was as follows: Boxing - 12, American
Football - 133, Hockey - 46, Roller Hockey - 3,
Rugby - 86 and Soccer - 74. The highest three
reported injury rates within the reviewed papers
were selected to represent the highest rates of
the sport.
Table 1 presents a comparison of sports with the
highest reported injury rates in six sports. Some
of these sports were presented as subsets (i.e.
defencemen in ice hockey). In addition, the
search for “hockey” presented an article on “roller
hockey” which met the inclusion criteria and is
therefore presented. This information is
presented as time-dependent exposure rather
than as per practice, game, or event.
Bull riding injuries per event were found to occur
at a rate 32.2 injuries per 1000 exposures in
Butterwick’s five-year prospective study. Using
the average exposure time of 80 seconds, the
rate of injuries is calculated to be 0.0004
injuries/ES or 1440 injuries/1000 EH. Other
sports with high injury rates are presented for
comparison.
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
83
B. Bull riding exposure
Four hundred and fifty-two bull riding exposures
were timed and recorded prospectively. The
timed exposures assumed a normal distribution
with mean exposure duration of 80 seconds and
a standard deviation of 33.94 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Four hundred and fifty-two bull riding exposures were timed and recorded. The timed exposures
assumed a normal distribution with a mean exposure duration of 80 seconds and a standard deviation of
33.94.
Relative rates of injury data (Table 2) illustrate
that none of the sports studied exhibit injury rates
that are as comparatively dangerous as bull
riding. In particular, bull riders are approximately
10 or more times more likely to sustain injury than
are participants in team contact sports, such as
ice hockey and football, and about 36% more
likely to sustain injury when compared to amateur
boxing.
Table 2: The highest relative injury rates for each selected sporting activity are summarised using the highest
reported rates compared to published bull riding data.
Competition bull riding 1.0
Amateur boxing 0.64
Semi-professional rugby 0.57
Female boxing 0.47
Professional roller hockey 0.21
Asian soccer 0.11
Ice hockey (Defenders) 0.075
High-school American football 0.097
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
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Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
84
Discussion
The authors present the highest reported injury
rates for the six sports selected in this study,
including those of data subsets, such as
defencemen in ice hockey, in Table 1. Since one
goal of the study was to ensure that sports with
the highest reported injury rates were included,
there was no restriction on data collection by
gender, age, classification of sport, or to team
sports without individual position differences in
injury rate. This enabled the authors to report
those sports with the highest injury incidence,
regardless of such characteristics.
Most of the published reports on football injury
rates do not report data based upon exposure
hours, but rather on exposure events; in other
words, injuries per player-per game. The current
method of reporting exposure regards the time a
player was actually on the field. In other words, a
player who spent only 5 minutes on the field was
counted as an exposure in the same way as a
player who spent 50 minutes on the field. It is
therefore difficult to compare football data to other
football data and to other sports that typically
report injury rates based upon exposure hours
(EH). Despite this, the highest rates of injury
reported for American football were: 140
14
, 16
15
,
and 3
16
EH respectively.
The authors are also aware that examining only
those studies that used exposure time as the
denominator eliminates some studies that have
investigated sport injury rates using other
measurements; however, it is simply impossible
to compare one study type (i.e. exposure time) to
another type (i.e. exposure game or players).
The authors believe that this particular point is of
paramount importance to the future of sport injury
epidemiology research. They believe that the
methodology used to study sport injury rates
should become standardised at the international
level and should utilise the exposure time as the
denominator when reporting injury rates in future
studies. This would enable valid and reliable
meta-analyses to be conducted, without having to
eliminate large numbers of otherwise high-quality
studies from the review.
The authors do not exclude the possibility or even
the probability that there are outliers (i.e. those
studies with the highest injury rates) and that they
might represent bias or study errors. These
studies represent outliers for each sport and no
studies report higher rates; therefore they
represent the highest known possible injury rates
for each given sport. The data presented in this
study with regard to bull riding, represents the
sum total of epidemiologic data available on total
athlete injuries sustained in the sport, while the
same is not true for the other sports against
which bull riding was compared. The authors did
not attempt to average or meta-analyze the data
from the other sports; therefore the reader is
cautioned not to draw conclusions about the
mean or average rates of injury for these other
sports. Comparing the outlying (at the higher
end) sport injury rates of these other sports to the
data this study has on bull riding is the extent to
which the authors went to show that the injury
rate in bull riding is significantly greater than the
rates in the comparison of sports.
The bull riding data collection lost data when one
timer/recorder was used, because a second bull
rider’s time could theoretically start prior to the
completion of the current ride. This was
acknowledged by the individuals who were
recording the times; the authors then started to
use teams of timers/recorders. The potential for
an effect on results is mitigated by the normal
distribution of the timed exposures in Figure 1.
No attempt was made to control for sample sizes
in the reports of injury rates. Although some of
the data presented in Table 1 are from very small
sample sizes, the most likely effect of these small
sample sizes is to overestimate injury rates.
Moreover, because the authors only used the
outlier studies of sport injury rates in the
comparison to bull riding injury rates, it is almost
certain that the mean injury rates of these other
sports are far lower. Thus the overall presentation
of data in Table 1 supports the hypothesis that
bull riding has the highest injury incidence as a
function of exposure time, or per 1000 EH.
Conclusion
Until now, there have been no published reports
on the exposure time of American rodeo rough
stock events; therefore this study presents the
first such precise observation that an average bull
riding exposure is 80.26 seconds. Using
published injury rate data and assuming an
average 80-second exposure time, the injury rate
for that bull riding study is 1440 injuries per 1000
EH.
The next highest injury rate found in the literature
search was amateur boxing, with an injury rate of
920 per 1000 EH, while the second and third
highest reported injury rates were 825 and 680
injuries per 1000 EH in semi-professional rugby
and female boxing, respectively. According to
these data, the bull rider is 1.56 times more likely
to be injured than the amateur boxer, 1.75 times
Sports injury epidemiology: American bull riding International SportMed Journal, Vo.8 No.2, 2007,
pp.78-86, http://www.ismj.com
Official Journal of FIMS (International Federation of Sports Medicine)
85
more likely than the semi-professional rugby
player, and 2.1 times more likely to be injured
than a female boxer (Table 2).
As a result of these analyses, it is a simple matter
to conclude that there is a universal difference in
the injury rates between bull riding and most
other sports; and these authors, therefore, are
compelled to declare the sport of bull riding to be
the most dangerous organised sport in the world.
Address for correspondence:
Dr Mark A Brandenburg, Department of
Emergency Medicine, University of Oklahoma
College of Medicine-Tulsa, 2E-14, 4502 East 41st
Street, Tulsa, OK 74135-2553, USA.
Tel.: +27 (918) 660 3458
Fax: +27 (918) 660 3821
Email:
mark-brandenburg@ouhsc.edu
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... 53 A part of American culture and history, as well as many cultures worldwide, 51 rodeo focuses on high-intensity bursts of human versus livestock action, which gives the sport an intense nature, a sense of danger, and an increased risk of injury that is not seen in traditional sports. 3 The sport of rodeo is broken up into 2 event types: (1) roughstock (untamed livestock likely to buck when ridden) and (2) timed events. The roughstock events include bull riding, saddle bronc, and bareback riding. ...
... 6,30,61 Bull riding is the most dangerous roughstock event. 3,6,61 While injury rates are high and fatalities have been reported in rodeo, there is still a concern for underreporting. 7 One reason for this is the personality of rodeo athletes, which leads them to ''shake off'' their injuries and provide their own treatment. ...
... 2,4,6,8,12,21 The athlete-livestock contact accounted for 70% of catastrophic injuries and 75% of fatalities. 3,7,30 Hip injuries were primarily caused by collisions with the ground, animal, or arena infrastructure during dismount or while in the chute 65.5% of the time. 62 Pectoralis major tendon ruptures in steer wrestling were caused primarily by the throwing phase of the steer and secondarily by using the arm to break a fall, both due to unexpected behavior of the steer. ...
Article
Full-text available
Background Rodeo is a globally popular sport, with its athletes prone to various types of injuries. There is no systematic review discussing rodeo injuries across all age groups. Purpose To (1) review the published literature on incidence, types of injuries, and factors leading to injuries in rodeo athletes; (2) provide prevention recommendations for health care providers; and (3) identify gaps in the research. Study Design Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods A comprehensive search of available literature was electronically performed through MEDLINE, Embase, and SPORTDiscus databases using the key terms “rodeo” and “injury” or “trauma” between 1995 and 2021. A systematic review was performed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, which identified 116 eligible studies. Outcome data included frequency of injuries, risk factors for injury, and types of injury. Results A total of 23 studies met the inclusion criteria (N = 2105 athletes), of which 13 were retrospective studies. In the included studies, the injury rate per competition exposure (CE) ranged from 4.2 to 19.1 injuries per 1000 CE. Sprains and strains accounted for the highest percentage of injury types, ranging from 15% to 34%. The knee was the most common location of injury, making up 11.1% to 17% of injuries. Concussions occurred in up to 15.3% of injuries for all events and up to 77% of injuries in roughstock events. Of all rodeo events reported, bull riding caused the highest percentage of injuries, making up 19.4% to 58.4% of injuries, and bareback had the second highest at 15.3% to 28.8% of injuries. Conclusion There was a high prevalence of various injury types and mechanisms in rodeo. Improved injury surveillance and the introduction of a comprehensive standardized injury reporting system would be helpful in the future prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of rodeo injuries.
... Roughstock events are inherently the most dangerous events in rodeo and are the most common cause of injury, with 75-87% of all injured rodeo athletes participating in one of these events (2,7,9,11,(19)(20)(21). The stark contrast in size between the rider and a relatively unpredictable animal warrants a high potential for unidirectional damage aimed at the athlete. ...
... Bull riding has been notoriously deemed, "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports", due to the high incidence of severe injury with 28-50% of all rodeo injuries coming from this event (2,6,8,19). The bull may easily outweigh the rider ten-fold and is prone to aggressive behavior. ...
... Being trampled or gored may lead to traumatic injury to the chest, abdomen, and pelvis which are the leading causes of death in roughstock events (2). Bull riders are typically the most protected athletes in the rodeo, though they still experience the highest rate of morbidity and mortality with 92.5% of surveyed riders responding that they have experienced an injury in their career (8,11,19). After polarizing deaths to rodeo riders years ago, protective vests and helmets have come in to popularity with reports that 95% of bull riders always wear vests (11). ...
Article
Background. Rodeo is an inherently dangerous competition and the equipment utilized to reduce the risk of injury is not well defined in the existing literature. Methods. A systematic review of the literature published between 1990 and 2018 was conducted and combined with personal and anecdotal reports to review and assess the role that protective equipment plays in mitigating rodeo-related injuries. Results. Studies that reported the use of protective equipment noted that helmets and protective vests prevented minor and severe trauma, though did not comprehensively limit fatal events. There was limited literature describing the usefulness of other supportive equipment used for injuries to the extremities and the neck. In studies surveying competitors, many athletes reported underuse of protective equipment due to perceived image and uncertain effectiveness. Conclusions. Further investigation is required to quantify the impact of protective equipment as it pertains to the incidence of injury in the rodeo population. KEY WORDS Rodeo; injury; safety equipment; protective equipment; sports; trauma.
... [5][6][7][8] Rodeo is comparable in skill level to traditional sports and often has an inherently higher risk of injury. [7,[9][10][11][12][13] Also, there is limited treatment, rehabilitation, education and research in this area. Certainly, the sport of rodeo elicits a unique atmosphere involving typical human competition, human and animal together in competitive team situations, as well as disproportionate confrontation between human and animal, leading to challenges that transcend those of traditional athletic events. ...
... [15,17,35] This has resulted in questionable underreporting, the inability to monitor trauma patterns, variations in classification of injury and injury rate, incomplete or ambiguous data information, and debatable accuracy of diagnosis. [13,15,19,24] To remedy these challenges, authors have proposed incorporating various forms of follow-up procedures such as telephone interviews and mailed questionnaires. As injury recall time increases, however, memory and subsequently validity and reliability become suspect. ...
... exposure hours, athlete exposures) often lead to contrasting findings, making comparison of studies challenging. [13,15,38] In addition, the majority of studies have failed to differentiate youth from adult trauma data, or document the incidence of recurrent injuries. [19,38] Although any definition of injury and level of trauma lacks universal agreement and has inherent shortcomings, [21][22][23][41][42][43] efforts need to be directed toward establishing a uniform definition of injury, as well as developing a clear, concise but comprehensive injury reporting system. ...
Article
Full-text available
One of today’s fastest growing sports, rodeo is well known for its high-velocity, high-impact atmosphere where athletes compete against the clock and uncooperative livestock on a daily basis. Driven by tradition, history, and independence, this athlete competes in an unforgiving environment where protection is limited, conventional medical care is sparse, and the potential for severe injury is eminent. Rodeo now approaches the level of skill and, oftentimes, a higher risk of injury when compared to traditional sports. An extensive amount of sport skill is required to oppose the tremendous power generated by livestock, and there is a constant potential for debilitating injury on a daily basis. Unfortunately for the rodeo athlete, the sport science and medicine knowledge and facilities conducive for optimal performance that have existed for traditional sports over the years, still remain largely nonspecific for rodeo activities. Although researchers have extensively determined the epidemiology of injuries in various team and individual sports, currently, there is still limited quantitative research on the physical, physiological, and psychological aspects of rodeo,as well as a small, but growing body of information concerning etiology, type, and severity of injury sustained by these unique competitors. The stark rise in rodeo injuries is especially evident among young, inexperienced athletes, continuing to draw concern among the medical community to address injury potential in this sport as early as possible in an athlete’s career. Quantification of this sport, from both a scientific and medical standpoint, may minimize the potential for future trauma, optimize performance, and enhance career longivity. This article provides information on the physiological status, the psychological indices, the incidence and physical challenges in rodeo, the causation and risk factors associated with injury, and recommendations for optimal performance and prevention of trauma in this nontraditional sport.
... In 2007, rodeo bull-riding was deemed the most dangerous sport by the International Sportmed Journal, seeing 21 fatalities between 1989 and 2009. 1,2 Current literature suggests head and neck trauma comprises 10%-29% of all injuries sustained during the sport, with bull-riders experiencing injuries ranging from mild concussions to ones ''similar to those in unrestrained vehicle crashes.'' 3,4 Nevertheless, The Professional Bull Rider's Association (PBR), which broadcasts over 300 rodeo events on CBS and CBS Sports networks yearly, saw a 12% increase in viewership between 2015 and 2018. ...
... 15 However, this standard mandates the use of a twin-wire drop tester for impact testing, which does not replicate head rotation, a primary contributor to TBI. 19 In addition, the ASTM F2530 standard does not incorporate all five mechanisms of bull-riding injury causing concussion identified by the American Journal of Sports Medicine: hitting the ground, being kicked, being stepped or fallen on, hitting the chute or fence, and impacting the bull's head. 2 While Brandenburg's work found that falling off of a bull was the most commonly known cause of concussion in the sport, 1 various helmet testing methods, including those from equestrian sports, have recreated these impacts in a laboratory setting. 1,20 However, the second most commonly known cause of concussion in the sport is being kicked, which has not been accurately modeled in a test method. 2 Because each type of impact causing concussion can be assumed to be substantially different, there is a need to address each type of impact separately in test method development and experimental research, beginning with the impact requiring immediate attention: kicking impacts. ...
Article
Full-text available
As the rodeo sport of bull-riding increases in popularity, dangers to bull-rider athlete safety continue to pose serious health risks. Despite frequent occurrences of head trauma in the sport, current test methods for evaluating helmets commonly worn in bull-riding fail to consider rotational head acceleration, which is correlated to concussive events in impact sports. Additionally, the second most prevalent mechanism contributing to head trauma in bull-riding is bull kick impacts, which have yet to be accurately modeled in a test method. Researchers aim to enhance bull-rider athlete protection through the development of a helmet test method that simulates bull kicks with a pneumatic linear impactor. The proposed test method considers impacts at two impact velocities and six impact locations using a flat and Equestrian Hazard Anvil. Two commonly worn helmets in bull-riding are evaluated in this study, and an adequate sample size is determined from analyzing variation between repeated impacts. The proposed test method is statistically validated, and researchers show that impacts at higher kicking velocities and impacts with the flat anvil result in increased rotational head accelerations. Ultimately, this study emphasizes the need for helmets designed specifically for the unique impacts of bull-riding by simulating bull kicks through pneumatic linear impactor testing to reduce rotational head kinematics and hoof penetration.
... Nėra aišku, ar agresyvesnieji renkasi agresyvesnę sporto šaką, ar dėl leistinų agresyvaus žaidimo taisyklių sportuojantieji gali tapti agresyvesni. Pagal sužalojimų statistiką regbis priskiriamas agresyviausioms sporto šakoms (Brandenburg et al., 2007), todėl tikėtina, kad regbininkų agresyvumo ypatumai bus aiškiai išreikšti. Šio tyrimo tikslas -nustatyti regbininkų savęs vertinimo ir agresyvumo formų sąsajas. ...
Article
Full-text available
Smurtas sporto srityje, pasireiškiantis per sportinę kovą ir ne tik jos metu, tampa rimta socialine problema. Daugelis autorių ieško priežasčių, lemiančių agresyvų elgesį. Analizuojami situaciniai veiksniai, asmeninės savybės, kontekstas. Agresyvios reakcijos, gebėjimas tokius impulsus kontroliuoti ar jų energiją iškrauti socialiai priimtinu būdu glaudžiai siejasi su savęs vertinimu. Savęs vertinimo tyrimai sportinės veiklos požiūriu nėra gausūs, todėl šio tyrimo objektu pasirinkome kontaktinės šakos sportininkų savęs vertinimą ir agresyvumo ypatumus. Pagal sužalojimų statistiką regbis priskiriamas agresyviausioms sporto šakoms, todėl tikėjomės, kad regbininkų agresyvumo formos bus aiškiai išreikštos. Šio tyrimo tikslas — nustatyti regbininkų savęs vertinimo ir agresyvumo formų sąsajas. Buvo tiriami 104 regbininkai vyrai, besitreniruojantys jaunių ir suaugusiųjų komandose. Tiriamųjų amžius 16—32 m., amžiaus vidurkis 20,75 m. Tyrimo metu naudota M. Rosenberg (1986) savęs vertinimo skalė ir Buss-Durkee (1957) agresyvumo klausimynas. Statistinei duomenų analizei atlikti naudota SPSS programa (10.1 versija). Rezultatai parodė, kad tirtiems regbininkams būdingiausios verbalinės ir fi zinės agresijos formos, t. y. aktyvus, atvi- ras agresijos išreiškimas, o mažiausiai būdinga netiesioginė agresija ir negatyvizmas, t. y. „atsargesnis“, pasyvesnis agresijos išreiškimas. Analizuodami duomenis pagal amžių nustatėme, kad įtarumas ir kaltės jausmas būdingesni jaunesniems regbinin- kams — jaunesni regbininkai labiau nepasitiki aplinkiniais ir projektuoja savo priešiškumą į kitus. Negatyvizmas būdingesnis vyresniems tiriamiesiems. Galima manyti, kad vyresni regbininkai labiau drįsta nepritarti kitų sugalvo- toms taisyklėms ar garbingos kovos principams. Vyresnių regbininkų grupėje (aukštesnio savęs vertinimo) savęs vertinimo ir suminio agresyvumo rodiklio sąsajų neaptikta, tačiau jaunesnių regbininkų grupėje nustatytas neigiamas ryšys: kuo žemesnis savęs vertinimas, tuo aukš- tesnis agresyvumo įvertis. Tokie rezultatai atitinka daugumos tyrėjų išvadas, kad būtent žemas savęs vertinimas yra agresyvumo rizikos veiksnys. Vyresnių regbininkų savęs vertinimas patikimai siejosi tik su verbaline agresija: kuo aukštesnis savęs vertinimas, tuo labiau išreikštas polinkis verbalinei agresijai. Priešiškumas, susierzinimas, nuoskauda ir negatyvizmas neigiamai koreliuoja su jaunesnių regbininkų savęs vertinimu. Raktažodžiai: agresyvumas, instrumentinė agresija, savęs vertinimas.
... In professional rodeo, injury rates are known to be the highest among roughstock riders (Butterwick, Hagel, Nelson, LeFave, & Meeuwisse, 2002;Downey, 2007;Ketai, Temes, Deis, Allen, & Wernly, 2000). Bull riding in particular has been referred to as the most dangerous organized spectator sport in the world (Bernstein, 2007;Brandenburg, Butterwick, Hiemstra, Nebergall, & Laird, 2007). While professional bull riding is limited to those aged 18 and older, younger contestants can ride steers or junior bulls that are typically smaller and do not buck as hard as the bulls ridden by adults. ...
Article
High injury potential in rodeo is well recognized but the injury data for pediatric and adolescent rodeo athletes remain sparse. A systematic review of the literature published between 1990 and 2017 was conducted to assess the incidence and determinants of rodeo-related injuries in this population and to suggest injury prevention measures. Three of the 10 included studies reported event frequency and exposure data while the other seven pertained to particular injuries and/or rodeo events. Although each study documented cases of severe injuries, the limited epidemiological data indicated the majority of pediatric and adolescent athletes sustained minor injuries, such as sprains, strains, and contusions. Most injuries resulted from the impact of a fall or animal contact with the head being the most reported injury site. Owing to an unpredictable nature of this sport, injury prevention is challenging but there is evidence that helmets reduce the incidence and severity of head injuries.
Article
Background Rodeo is an extreme sport involving powerful forces created by large animals. Objective The objective of this study was to characterize rodeo-related injuries among adolescents treated at United States emergency departments (EDs). Methods Cases were rodeo-related injuries among patients ages 13–19 years reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System during 2000–2019. The distribution of the national injury estimates was determined for selected variables. Results A total of 408 adolescent rodeo-related injuries were identified, resulting in a national estimate of 17,363 injuries. Bulls were involved in 58.4% of the injuries and horses in 28.8%. The patients were 84.7% male and 15.3% female. The most frequently reported mechanisms of injury were: fell or thrown from an animal (41.4%), stepped on by an animal (22.4%), other contact with an animal (7.4%), contact with infrastructure (6.6%), and kicked by an animal (5.9%). The most common diagnoses were contusion or abrasion (29.5%), fracture (22.8%), strain or sprain (15.0%), laceration (8.1%), and concussion (8.0%). The affected body part was 26.9% head and neck, 25.9% upper extremity, 24.6% lower extremity, and 21.6% trunk. Conclusion Most of the injuries involved bulls. The majority of patients were male. Most of the injuries resulted from falling or being thrown by an animal or stepped on by an animal. The most frequently reported injuries were contusion or abrasion, fracture, strain or sprain, laceration, and concussion. The injuries most often affected the head and neck followed by the upper extremity and lower extremity.
Chapter
Concussion and Traumatic Encephalopathy - edited by Jeff Victoroff February 2019
Article
Objective: To analyze injury frequency, density, location, type, mechanism of injury (MOI), activity phase of injury, and injury risk in professional rodeo. Design: Retrospective epidemiological review. Setting: Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association sanctioned rodeos from 2011 to 2014. Participants: Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association competitors competing in bull riding, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, team roping, tie-down roping, and steer wrestling. Main outcome measures: Injury reports were documented by sports medicine personnel. Variables assessed include event, frequency, density, location, type, MOI, activity phase of injury, and injury density. Results: A total of 2305 injuries from 139,098 competitor exposures (CEs) were reported, demonstrating overall injury density of 16.6 injuries per 1000 CEs (95% confidence interval, 0.016-0.017) and overall risk of injury of 1.69%. Rough stock riders accounted for 88.7% of all injuries. Bull riders, bareback riders, and saddle bronc riders demonstrated injury densities of 48.2, 41.1, and 23.2 injuries per 1000 CEs, respectively. Most injuries (62.9%) were sustained by collisions with the ground or animal, or being stomped on by the animal. Contusions, sprains, and concussions were the most frequent injury types (23.1%, 13.6%, and 11.6%, respectively). Neurological components, knees, and shoulders were the most injured body parts (13.4%, 11.1%, and 11.0%, respectively). Most injuries (36.8%) occurred during or immediately after the dismount. Conclusions: Rough stock events have the greatest risk of injury in professional rodeo, whereas steer wrestling has the greatest risk of injury for timed event athletes. Medical professionals should use these findings to implement prevention programming where possible.
Article
Background: Recently, there has been increasing interest in gathering epidemiological data through standardised assessment for the health of athletes. Research Question: This study prospectively examined the epidemiologic profile of acute and chronic sports injuries incurred by the national athletes of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) during the 16th Summer Asian Games. Type of study: Prospective epidemiologic surveillance Methods: All medical personnel of the KOC were instructed to complete and return a daily injury report form, and all physicians were asked to fill in the clinical diagnoses after a thorough examination. The frequency, characteristics, and clinical diagnoses of all sports injuries were examined, and the incidence and injury risk across different sports were compared. Chronic conditions prevalent in elite athletes were also assessed. Results: The number of sports injuries that were reported was 725 (430 athletes); of these 725, 288 were acute injuries (209 athletes), including 68 recurrent injuries (58 athletes), and 437 were chronic injuries (305 athletes). The largest number of acute and recurrent injuries was reported in athletics (37 acute injuries and 16 recurrent injuries). Acute injuries were incurred in competition (n=126; 43.8%) and during practice (n=162; 56.3%), and recurrent injuries in competition (n=18; 26.5%) and during practice (n=50; 73.5%). The incidence rate (IR) of acute injuries was 37.9 (95% Confidence Interval {left tortoise shell bracket}CI{right tortoise shell bracket}; 33.5-42.3) injuries/1,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), and the IR of recurrent injuries was 9.0 (95% CI; 6.8-11.1) injuries/1,000 AEs. Athletics also showed the highest IRs for both acute and recurrent injuries (245.0 injuries/1,000 AEs, 95% CI; 166.1-324.0, and 106.0 injuries/1,000 AEs, 95% CI; 54.0-157.9, respectively). 26.4% (95% CI; 23%-30%) of the registered athletes sustained acute injuries, and 7.3% (95% CI; 6%-9%) of them incurred recurrent injuries. Basketball (67%, 95% CI; 48%-86%) and field hockey (66%, 95% CI; 49%-82%) showed high IPs for acute injuries and the IP for recurrent injuries was high in athletics (27%, 95% CI; 14%-40%). Lateral ankle ligament sprain was the most frequent acute injury (n=28; 9.7%, 95% CI; 27-29), whereas calf muscle cramps was the most frequent recurrent injury (n=11; 16.2%, 95% CI; 10.3-11.7). The prevalence of chronic injuries was highest in wrestling (n=31; 7.1%, 95% CI; 26.7-35.3), and the most prevalent chronic injury was chronic ankle instability and lumbar myofascial pain (n=51; 11.7%, 95% CI; 49.6-52.4, respectively). Conclusions: The statistics of this epidemiologic study indicated the wide range of the incidence, prevalence and characteristics of injuries in different sports during the 16th Summer Asian Games, and the data from the sports might be compared using the statistical measures of the injurysurveillance in this study. Therefore injury prevention programmes should be tailored to the injury profile of the respective sport for the major international multi-sport events.
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This study investigated the incidence of injury in German Bundesliga football based on the evaluation of two American football teams before and during the season 1995. Certified team physicians and team physiotherapists were the initial medical professionals providing on-site diagnosis, injury documentation and first aid for all injuries. An injury was defined as minor (group I) causing the player to miss practice or game sessions up to 1 week without requiring surgery; as severe (group II) causing the player to miss practice or game sessions for more than 1 week up to 3 months or requiring surgery; and as catastrophic (group III) if the incident led to treatment for more than 3 months, treatment in an intensive care unit or persistent neurological or orthopaedic disability or death. From the data collected it was possible to calculate the risk of injury per time of exposure per athlete. The athlete’s function, influence of the weather and mechanisms of the injuries were registered. In total, 242 injuries were documented. The rate of injury was calculated as 16 per 1000 hours of practice and game per athlete. Severe injuries (group II) were found in 94 cases. Catastrophic injuries were not seen during the study. The knee was found to be the most common site of injury, while the ankle ranked second. Our study showed that the risk of injury in American football in German Bundesliga is comparable with soccer or handball.
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Objectives: To investigate the site, nature, cause, and severity of injuries in semi-professional rugby league players. Methods: The incidence of injury was prospectively studied in one hundred and fifty six semi-professional rugby league players over two competitive seasons. All injuries sustained during matches and training sessions were recorded. Injury data were collected from a total of 137 matches and 148 training sessions. Information recorded included the date and time of injury, site, nature, cause, and severity of injury. Results: During the two seasons, 1694 playing injuries and 559 training injuries were sustained. The match injury incidence was 824.7 per 1000 player-position game hours and training injury incidence was 45.3 per 1000 training hours. Over 20% of the total training (17.4 per 1000) and playing (168.0 per 1000) injuries sustained were to the thigh and calf. Muscular injuries (haematomas and strains) were the most common type of injury sustained during training (22.0 per 1000, 48.7%) and matches (271.7 per 1000, 32.9%). Playing injuries were most commonly sustained in tackles (382.2 per 1000, 46.3%), while overexertion was the most common cause of training injuries (15.5 per 1000, 34.4%). The majority of playing injuries were sustained in the first half of matches (1013.6 per 1000, 61.5% v 635.8 per 1000, 38.5%), whereas training injuries occurred more frequently in the latter stages of the training session (50.0 per 1000, 55.3% v 40.5 per 1000, 44.7%). Significantly more training injuries were sustained in the early half of the season, however, playing injuries occurred more frequently in the latter stages of the season. Conclusions: These results suggest that changes in training and playing intensity impact significantly upon injury rates in semi-professional rugby league players. Further studies investigating the influence of training and playing intensity on injuries in rugby league are warranted.
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Collegiate rodeo athletes (N = 156) in the National' Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) Southern Region. were examined for injuries during a 7 month (10 rodeo) season from 1987 to 1988. Sixty-two athletes sustained a total of 138 acute injuries resulting from 3292 exposures. One hundred twenty-seven injuries (92% of total injuries) occurred in the roughstock and steer wrestling events. and 11 injuries (8%) occurred in the roping and female events. When calculating oppor­tunity for injury, rodeo athletes face an 89% potential for injury per season. Ninety-one of the injuries incurred were upper body injuries; 47 were lower body injuries. A 6:1 exposure to injury ratio among roughstock events exemplifies the magnitude of Injury potential in this sport, affecting 25% of roughstock competitors. Con­tusions. strains. and concussions comprised 42%, 16%, and 11% of the totaf injuries, respectively, whereas fractures and dislocations comprised only 5% of the total. Twenty-three percent of the injuries oc­curred during the completion of an athlete's ride, with 21% of injuries attributed to equipment mishaps. Fre­quency of injury by performance, relation of seasonal participation and exposure to injury, orthotic care, use of conditioning programs, medication history, and the need for enhanced sports medicine education in this sport are discussed.
Article
In brief: Sprains and contusions were the most common injuries during a three-day rodeo that included competition in bareback riding, calf roping, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, bull riding, and barrel racing. The most dangerous event was bull riding: 70% of the competitors were injured, and one of the bull fighters was injured twice. Barrel racing was the safest event None of the women who competed was injured. A total of 22 of the 67 contestants were treated for 25 injuries.
Article
In brief: A medical team kept records for four years on all injuries that occurred during an annual state championship rodeo. Fifty-five (19.7%) of the 278 competitors and rodeo clowns who participated sustained a total of 61 injuries. Bull riding was the most dangerous event, accounting for 20 injuries to 18 competitors; saddle bronc riding and bareback riding followed with 13 injuries each. Barrel racing was the safest, with no injuries. The most common injuries were contusions, sprains, and strains, and the elbow was injured more often than any other part of the body. Protective equipment and physical conditioning could reduce rodeo injuries.
Article
The medical team at the International Finals Rodeo has kept records for the last 6 years on all injuries sustained by the riders. Eighty-six of the 738 participants sustained a total of 90 injuries. Most of these injuries occurred during rough-stock riding events. Comparing this injury data with previous data on intercollegiate and state competitions suggests that the injury rate at elite competitions is much lower.
Article
A comprehensive compilation and critical analysis of injury data from a wide range of sports. For each 24 athletic endeavours, the text details: injury incidence; injury characteristics; injury severity; and injury risk factors. Suggestions for injury prevention and directions for future research are also provided in the sport-specific chapters. Two overview chapters giving a broader perspective on sports injuries cover: injury prevention measures that are applicable across sports; and guidelines for evaluating future research in epidemiology of sports injuries.
Article
This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of injury in high school football based on evaluation of 100 high schools in the State of Texas during a single football season (1989). Certified athletic trainers were the initial medical professionals providing on-site diag nosis and treatment of all injuries. An injury was defined as: 1) an incident causing an athlete to miss all or part of a single practice or game; 2) any incident treated by a physician; and 3) all head injuries reported to the athletic trainer. Data were collected that allowed cal culation of the time of exposure to injury per athlete in the sample. There was 75.5% participation in the study by the certified athletic trainers in the 100 schools. A total of 4399 athletes in varsity football programs participated in the study. There were 2228 injuries, as defined in the study, during the period of study, giving an inci dence of injury of 0.506 injury per athlete per year. Severe injuries—those requiring hospitalization—were found in 137 cases, for an incidence rate of 0.031 injury per athlete per year. The incidence of reportable defined injury was calculated to be 0.003 injury per hour of exposure per student athlete. The knee was found to be the most commonly injured anatomic site; the ankle ranked second.
Article
This study was conducted to identify factors that were associated with injuries during 59 varsity high school football games in 1987. For each injury, medical personnel recorded data on the type and body location of each injury, player position, specific player activity at the time of injury, the quarter of the game, the week of the season, playing field conditions, and ambient air temperature. We found injury frequencies, types, body locations and seasonal and game quarter distributions similar to previous reports. This study demonstrated a previously unreported association between playing field condition and injury rate.