title: Acute injuries in track and field athletes: a 3-year observational study at the Penn Relays Carnival with epidemiology and medical coverage implications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have examined acute injuries in track and field in both elite and subelite athletes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To observe the absolute number and relative rates of injury in track and field athletes across a wide range of competition levels and ages during 3 years of the Penn Relays Carnival to assist with future medical coverage planning and injury prevention strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive epidemiology study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a 3-year period, all injuries treated by the medical staff were recorded on a standardized injury report form. Absolute number of injuries and relative injury rates (number of injuries per 1000 competing athletes) were determined and odds ratios (ORs) of injury rates were calculated between sexes, competition levels, and events. Injuries were also broken down into major or minor medical or orthopaedic injuries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Throughout the study period, 48,473 competing athletes participated in the Penn Relays Carnival, and 436 injuries were sustained. For medical coverage purposes, the relative rate of injury subtypes was greatest for minor orthopaedic injuries (5.71 injuries per 1000 participants), followed by minor medical injuries (3.42 injuries per 1000 participants), major medical injuries (0.69 injuries per 1000 participants), and major orthopaedic injuries (0.18 injuries per 1000 participants). College/elite athletes displayed the lowest relative injury rate (7.99 injuries per 1000 participants), which was significantly less than that of high school (9.87 injuries per 1000 participants) and masters athletes (16.33 injuries per 1000 participants). Male athletes displayed a greater likelihood of having a minor orthopaedic injury compared with female athletes (OR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.06-1.75]; χ2 = 5.73; P = .017) but were less likely to sustain a major medical injury (OR, 0.33 [95% CI, 0.15-0.75]; χ2 = 7.75; P = .005). Of the 3 most heavily participated in events, the 4 × 400-m relay displayed the greatest relative injury rate (13.6 injuries per 1000 participants) compared with the 4 × 100-m and 4 × 200-m relays.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medical coverage teams for future large-scale track and field events need to plan for at least 2 major orthopaedic and 7 major medical injuries per 10,000 participants. Male track and field athletes, particularly masters male athletes, are at greater risk of injury compared with other sexes and competition levels.
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences & Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia david.opar@acu.edu.au.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Opar
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drezner
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences & Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shield
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, Sport and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Morgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Crozer-Keystone Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Webner
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kapur
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ulager
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cafengiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Cronholm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D014142:Track and Field / Q000293:injuries*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: athletics; epidemiology; injury; medical coverage