TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - The epidemiology of injuries in contact flag football
JO  - Clinical journal of sport medicine
A1  - Kaplan, Yonatan
A1  - Myklebust, Grethe
A1  - Nyska, Meir
A1  - Palmanovich, Ezequiel
A1  - Victor, Jan
A1  - Witvrouw, Erik
SP  - 39
EP  - 44
VL  - 23
IS  - 1
N2  - 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:: A total of 1492 players, consisting of men (n = 1252, 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1050-642X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0b013e3182694870
ID  - ref1
ER  -