Upper Quarter Injury Rates and Risk in United States High School Athletes Prior To and During the Prolonged Sport Stoppage.
Garrett Bullock, Charles Thigpen, Albert Prats-Uribe and 2 others
PMID 37020453WHAT IT FOUND
After a prolonged high school sport stoppage, upper quarter injury rates and risk were higher in 2020-2021 than 2019-2020.
The increase was seen in males, collision sports, and field/court sports; females and individual sports did not show the same increase.
Key findings
01Crude analysis showed upper quarter injuries increased by a ratio of 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.3), and the adjusted model showed a ratio of 1.5 (95% CI: 1.1, 2.2).
02Male upper quarter injury rates increased, while collision and field/court sport rates increased and individual sport rates were similar.
03Shoulder/proximal humerus, elbow, wrist, and hand injury rates increased in 2020-2021 compared with 2019-2020.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study is ecological, so it compared school years and schools, not individual athlete exposure or training dose. Individual athlete exposure could not be obtained, so injury rates are per 1,000 athletes in a school year rather than per hours of play. Sports were grouped into broad categories, which reduces precision for specific sports. Schools that did not report or participate in sport in 2020-2021 were excluded, and one state reported more than 3,000 additional students participating, with unknown cause, so selection bias is possible. The design cannot show that the sport stoppage caused the injury increase.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that a prolonged sport stoppage caused more upper quarter injuries. The study compared two school years without individual athlete exposure and notes possible selection bias, so it shows an association, not a cause.