title: Risk of injury in basketball, football, and soccer players, ages 15 years and older, 2003-2007.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A major challenge in the field of sports injury epidemiology is identifying the appropriate denominators for injury rates.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To characterize risk of injury from participation in basketball, football, and soccer in the United States, using hours of participation as the measure of exposure, and to compare these rates with those derived using population estimates in the denominator.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive epidemiology study.
  
  
  METHODS
  United States, 2003-2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  People ages 15 years and older who experienced an emergency department-treated injury while playing basketball, football, or soccer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rates of emergency department-treated injuries resulting from participation in basketball, football, or soccer. Injury rates were calculated for people ages 15 and older for the years 2003-2007 using the U.S. population and hours of participation as the denominators. The risk of injury associated with each of these sports was compared for all participants and by sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2003 through 2007, annual injury rates per 1000 U.S. population were as follows: 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.30, 1.67) in basketball, 0.93 (95% CI = 0.82, 1.04) in football, and 0.43 (95% CI = 0.33, 0.53) in soccer. When the denominator was hours of participation, the injury rate in football (5.08 [95% CI = 4.46, 5.69]/10 000 hours) was almost twice as high as that for basketball (2.69 [95% CI = 2.35, 3.02]/10 000 hours) and soccer (2.69 [95% CI = 2.07, 3.30]/10 000 hours).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on the choice of denominator, interpretation of the risk of an emergency department-treated injury in basketball, football, or soccer varies greatly. Using the U.S. population as the denominator produced rates that were highest in basketball and lowest in soccer. However, using hours of participation as a more accurate measure of exposure demonstrated that football had a higher rate of injury than basketball or soccer for both males and females.
authors.affiliation: Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20010, USA. ECarter@childrensnational.org
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Beverly J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Westerman
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hunting
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001490:Basketball / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology