Citation

Kaplan Y, Witvrouw E, Myklebust G, Nyska M, Palmanovich E, Victor J. Br. J. Sports Med. 2014; 48(7): 616.

Affiliation

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences & Physiotherapy at the Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bjsports-2014-093494.152

PMID

24620193

Abstract

BACKGROUND: American Flag football (AFF) is a version of American Football that has become very popular worldwide, but lacks high quality research into the epidemiology of injuries. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the epidemiology of injuries in post-high school male and female athletes in the rapidly growing international sport of contact flag football. DESIGN: Prospective injury-observational study. SETTING: Kraft Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel. PARTICIPANTS: 1 492 players,consisting of men (n=1 252, mean age, 20.49±5.11) and women (n=240, mean age, 21.32±8.95 years), participated in 1028 games over a 2-season period (2007-2009). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All time-loss injuries sustained in game sessions were recorded by the off-the-field medical personnel and followed up by a more detailed phone injury surveillance questionnaire. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-three injuries were reported, comprising 1 533 776 athletic exposures (AEs). The incidence rate was 0.11 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.09-0.12] per 1000 AEs, and incidence proportion was 10.66% (95% CI, 9.10-12.22). Seventy-six percent of the injuries were extrinsic in nature. Thirty percent of the injuries were to the fingers, thumb, and wrist, 17% to the knee, 17% to the head/face, 13% to the ankle, and 11% to the shoulder. CONCLUSIONS: Contact flag football results in a significant amount of moderate to severe injuries. These data may be used in the development of a formal American flag football injury database and in the development and implementation of a high-quality, randomized, prospective injury prevention study. This study should include the enforcement of the no-pocket rule, appropriate headgear, self-fitting mouth guards, the use of ankle braces, and changing the blocking rules of the game.

Language: en