Epidemiology of National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Gymnastics Injuries, 2009–2010 Through 2013–2014

Abstract

Context Recent injury-surveillance data for collegiate-level women's gymnastics are limited. In addition, researchers have not captured non–time-loss injuries (ie, injuries resulting in restriction of participation <1 day). Objective To describe the epidemiology of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's gymnastics injuries during the 2009–2010 through 2013–2014 academic years. Design Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting Aggregate injury and exposure data collected from 11 women's gymnastics programs providing 28 seasons of data. Patients or Other Participants Collegiate student-athletes participating in women's gymnastics during the 2009–2010 through 2013–2014 academic years. Intervention(s) Women's gymnastics data from the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) during the 2009–2010 through 2013–2014 academic years were analyzed. Main Outcome Measure(s) Injury rates; injury rate ratios; injury proportions by body site, diagnosis, and apparatus; and injury proportion ratios were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The ISP captured 418 women's gymnastics injuries, a rate of 9.22/1000 athlete-exposures (AEs; 95% CI = 8.33, 10.10). The competition injury rate (14.49/1000 AEs) was 1.67 times the practice injury rate (8.69/1000 AEs; 95% CI = 1.27, 2.19). When considering time-loss injuries only, the injury rate during this study period (3.62/1000 AEs) was lower than rates reported in earlier NCAA ISP surveillance data. Commonly injured body sites were the ankle (17.9%, n = 75), lower leg/Achilles tendon (13.6%, n = 57), trunk (13.4%, n = 56), and foot (12.4%, n = 52). Common diagnoses were ligament sprain (20.3%, n = 85) and muscle/tendon strain (18.7%, n = 78). Overall, 12.4% (n = 52) of injuries resulted in time loss of more than 3 weeks. Of the 291 injuries reported while a student-athlete used an apparatus (69.6%), most occurred during the floor exercise (41.9%, n = 122) and on the uneven bars (28.2%, n = 82). Conclusions We observed a lower time-loss injury rate for women's gymnastics than shown in earlier NCAA ISP surveillance data. Safety initiatives in women's gymnastics, such as “sting mats,” padded equipment, and a redesigned vault table, may have contributed to minimizing the frequency and severity of injury.