scholarly journals Medical Supervision of High School Athletics in Chicago: A Follow-up Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 232596711986250
Author(s):  
Nathaniel S. Jones ◽  
Kyle Wieschhaus ◽  
Brendan Martin ◽  
Pietro M. Tonino

Background: High school sports participation in the United States has increased dramatically over the past 25 years. A corresponding increase in the number of injuries has been noted, particularly in contact sports such as football. This has led medical and sports organizations nationwide to advocate for proper medical supervision of athletes at games and practices. Purpose: To gather information from Chicago public high schools to gauge how medical supervision for high school sports has changed in 2017 compared with 2003. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Survey questionnaires were sent to the athletic directors of all 99 Chicago public high schools to complete via email. The questionnaire survey contained the same questions as in a survey conducted in 2003 by Tonino and Bollier, with the addition of 4 novel questions relating to emergency action plans (EAPs), automated external defibrillators, concussion management policy, and tackling progression drills. Results: The response rate was 66.67% (66/99 schools). Of the 66 responding schools, all with football programs, no school had a physician on the sideline at home games (decrease from 10.6% in 2003), 37.9% had an athletic trainer present (increase from 8.5% in 2003), and 63.6% had a paramedic available (decrease from 89.4% in 2003). In 2017, 65.6% of responding schools had a coach certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) available at practice to handle medical problems, compared with 89.4% in 2003 ( P < .001). Regarding the 4 novel questions, 93.9% of the responding schools had proper tackling progression drills in place, followed by 89.1% who had appropriate EAPs and 93.9% with concussion management protocols, including return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols. Conclusion: Although significant improvement was found in athletic trainer coverage, especially at games, physician coverage was lacking and fewer coaches were certified in CPR in 2017 compared with 2003. EAPs and concussion management protocols were present in most Chicago public high schools. Overall, greater medical supervision is needed, which we believe should come in the form of increased athletic training and physician involvement and coverage, given that expert, expedited medical care saves lives.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7_suppl5) ◽  
pp. 2325967119S0030
Author(s):  
Scott O. Burkhart ◽  
Dustin M. Loveland ◽  
Troy M. Smurawa ◽  
John Polousky

Objectives: Football has been a sport with high concussion rates when examined independently (Rosenthal et al., 2014). Accurately describing injury trends in high school sports is necessary to identify student-athletes at the greatest risk of injury and where potential injury reduction interventions should be focused. With increased reported high school concussion injuries and associated state legislative requirements, increased incidence rates are needed. The purpose of this study was to provide updated high-school football concussion incidence rates. Methods: Data Source and Study Period This study used data from the Rank One Health Injury Surveillance Database (ROH ISD). Data for the current study were analyzed across 6 calendar years (2012 through 2017) from 1,999 high schools. Data from the current study examined high school football concussion data in males ages 14 to 18. The ROH ISD consists of a convenience sample of participating schools from 2012 to 2017. Exposure and injury data represent a convenience sample of US high schools. For the current study, only data provided across all 1,999 high schools were included. All 1,999 high schools included in the current study logged practice and game participation events for each individual athlete participating in football at the respective high school and athletic exposures (AEs) are an accurate representation of rostered athletes participating in either practices or games by age and calendar year. The ROH ISD was deemed Category 4 IRB exempt. Statistical Analysis Injury counts, practice exposures, game exposures, and distributions by event type (practice or game), age, and injury mechanism were examined. Injury rates per 1,000 AEs and injury rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated by event type. Injury proportion ratios (IPRs) were used to examine differences by calendar year. Risk ratios (RRs) were calculated to compare event type by calendar year. All 95% confidence intervals (CIs) not containing 1.0 were considered statistically significant. Results: 997,308 male student-athletes participated in high school football. ATs recorded a total of 14,103 concussions in high school football from a total of 235,134 total injuries across all high school sports. High school football concussions accounted for 6% of all injuries in high school sports from 2012-2017. More concussions occurred in games (51.8%) than practices (48.2%). Decreases were found in annual injury rates for practices in high school football student-athletes from 2012 to 2016 with an increase in 2017. Decreases were found in annual injury rates for games from 2012 to 2016 with an increase in 2017. IPR decreased by year from 2012 to 2016 (with an increase in 2017. IRR and RR comparisons for games versus practices were significant from 2012 to 2017 (Table 1). Conclusion: This study marks the largest epidemiological high school football concussion incidence investigation to date. The findings from this study provide updated high school football concussion incidence rates and provide further evidence of differences in injury rates when comparing practices and games. The higher rates of concussions occurring in games relative to practices emphasize prior trends of injury risk relative to the level of competition. Overall, results highlight a decline in injury rates over time and lower rates of injury compared to prior high school football epidemiological concussion studies. [Table: see text]


Author(s):  
Kathryn Calpino ◽  
Jaclyn Morrissette

Abstract COVID-19 has drastically changed everyday life across the world and has dramatically impacted how athletics operate. Since the return of high school sports, high school athletic trainers are now responsible for ensuring the safe return of athletes previously diagnosed with COVID-19 to sports. Due to the relatively recent identification of this novel virus, very little is understood about the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection on the cardiac and respiratory systems. Due to the rapid return of athletics, there is unfortunately limited research available regarding how athletes respond to COVID-19 and how it may affect their ability to return to play. Therefore, it is recommended that high school athletes previously diagnosed with COVID-19 undergo a comprehensive medical evaluation with their physician and complete a graduated medically supervised return to play protocol.


2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Huffman ◽  
Ellen E. Yard ◽  
Sarah K. Fields ◽  
Christy L. Collins ◽  
R. Dawn Comstock

Abstract Context: Although more than 7 million athletes participate in high school sports in the United States, to date no nationally representative studies of rare injuries and conditions (RICs) exist. Rare injuries and conditions include eye injuries, dental injuries, neck and cervical injuries, and dehydration and heat illnesses. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of RICs sustained by high school athletes during the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 school years. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: A nationally representative sample of 100 US high schools using an injury surveillance system, High School Reporting Information Online. Patients or Other Participants: Athletes participating in football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, volleyball, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, wrestling, baseball, or softball at one of the 100 participating high schools. Main Outcome Measure(s): We reviewed all RICs to calculate injury rates and to identify potential risk factors and preventive measures. Results: A total of 321 RICs were sustained during 3 550 141 athlete-exposures (AEs), for an injury rate of 9.04 RICs per 100 000 AEs. This represents an estimated 84 223 RICs sustained nationally. The RICs accounted for 3.5% of all high school athletes' injuries. The most common diagnoses were neck and cervical injuries (62.0%, n  =  199) and dehydration and heat illnesses (18.7%, n  =  60). Football had the highest RIC rate per 100 000 AEs (21.2), followed by wrestling (15.2) and baseball (7.60). The RICs occurred at a higher rate in boys (12.4) than in girls (2.51) (rate ratio  =  4.93; 95% confidence interval  =  3.39, 7.18). The majority of RICs (67.3%, n  =  216) permitted athletes to return to play within 1 week of diagnosis. Conclusions: The RIC injury rates varied by sport and sex and represented almost 100 000 potentially preventable injuries to high school athletes. Because of the potentially serious consequences, future researchers must develop and implement more effective preventive measures to aid certified athletic trainers in decreasing the RIC incidence among high school athletes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 873-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Davies ◽  
Kathryn Coxe ◽  
Hosea H. Harvey ◽  
Bhavna Singichetti ◽  
Jinhong Guo ◽  
...  

Context:  All 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws governing concussion management and education. These concussion laws, featuring common tenets regarding removal from play, return to play, and concussion education, have shaped school and district policies. Objective:  To evaluate the strategies commonly used to implement concussion laws at the school and district levels, as reported by certified athletic trainers (ATs). Design:  Qualitative study. Setting:  High schools. Patients or Other Participants:  We interviewed 64 ATs from high schools (1 per school) participating in High School Reporting Information Online. Data Collection and Analysis:  Interviews were conducted with participants between April and October 2015 regarding implementation of the 3 core tenets of concussion laws. Research team members independently evaluated the interview transcripts and field notes to identify common themes in implementation strategies. Results:  Of the 64 schools represented, 90.6% were public schools, 89.1% sponsored more than 15 sports, and all schools employed at least 1 AT and had a written concussion policy. Four commonly used strategies to implement removal from play were reliance on coaches, immediate response, referral and guidance after injury, and notification of key individuals. Use of assessment or baseline tests, communication among parties involved, reliance on AT assessments, and return-to-learn policies were 4 frequent strategies to implement return to play. Finally, 3 major implementation strategies to effectuate concussion education were use of existing educational tools, timing of education, and concussion training for school professionals. Conclusions:  Although concussion laws were passed at different times and varied in content across states, common themes in implementation strategies emerged across jurisdictions. The identification of strategic approaches to implementation will help ensure proper concussion management and education, reducing negative health outcomes among youths with concussions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 232596711986742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen D. Oliver ◽  
Michael G. Saper ◽  
Monika Drogosz ◽  
Hillary A. Plummer ◽  
Alan T. Arakkal ◽  
...  

Background: Injury prevalence has been well described among baseball athletes; similarly, a better understanding of injuries in softball athletes is needed. Purpose: To examine shoulder and elbow injury epidemiology among high school softball athletes in the United States. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods: Injury data were obtained from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance System, which captures data from a large national sample of US high schools. Annually, a random sample of 100 high schools provided a representative sample with respect to the 4 US Census geographic regions and 2 school sizes (cutoff point, 1000 students). Athletic trainers from participating schools reported data for athlete-exposures (AEs; practice or competition) and shoulder and elbow injuries from 2005-2006 through 2016-2017. Results: A total of 239 shoulder injuries and 85 elbow injuries occurred within 2,095,329 AEs. The overall shoulder injury rate was 1.14 per 10,000 AEs, whereas the overall elbow injury rate was 0.41 per 10,000 AEs. Injuries to the shoulder were more likely to occur during competition as compared with practice (rate ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.99-1.65). Half of the shoulder (50.4%) and elbow 48.9% injuries were due to an overuse/chronic mechanism. Of the athletes sustaining an injury, 86.8% with shoulder injuries and 93.0% with elbow injuries returned to play within 21 days. Only 16.7% of shoulder injuries and 17.5% of elbow injuries were sustained by pitchers. Conclusion: Shoulder and elbow injury rates, time to return, and percentage of injuries among pitchers were far lower in high school softball than previously reported values for high school baseball. There were relatively low incidences of shoulder and elbow injuries in high school softball as compared with baseball, with few injuries requiring lengthy time to return to play.


2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Rechel ◽  
Ellen E. Yard ◽  
R. Dawn Comstock

Abstract Context: More than 7 million US high school students play sports. Objective: To compare practice and competition injury rates and patterns in 5 boys' sports (football, soccer, basketball, wrestling, and baseball) and 4 girls' sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball) during the 2005–2006 school year. Design: Prospective injury surveillance study. Setting: Injury data were collected from 100 nationally representative United States high schools via High School RIO (Reporting Information Online). Patients or Other Participants: Athletes from participating high schools injured while participating in a school-sanctioned practice or competition in one of the above sports. Main Outcome Measure(s): Practice and competition injury rates, body site, diagnosis, and severity. Results: High school athletes participating in these 9 sports at participating schools sustained 4350 injuries during the 2005–2006 school year, which corresponds to an estimated 1 442 533 injuries nationally. The rate of injury per 1000 athlete-exposures was higher in competition (4.63) than in practice (1.69) (rate ratio [RR]  =  2.73, 95% confidence interval [CI]  =  2.58, 2.90). Of all sports, football had the highest competition (12.09) and practice (2.54) injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures. Compared with injuries sustained during practice, higher proportions of competition injuries were head/face/neck injuries (proportion ratio [PR]  =  1.61, 95% CI  =  1.34, 1.94), particularly in boys' soccer (PR  =  7.74, 95% CI  =  2.53, 23.65) and girls' basketball (PR  =  6.03, 95% CI  =  2.39, 15.22). Competition injuries were more likely to be concussions (PR  =  2.02, 95% CI  =  1.56, 2.62), especially in boys' soccer (PR  =  6.94, 95% CI  =  2.01, 23.95) and girls' basketball (PR  =  5.83, 95% CI  =  2.06, 16.49). Higher proportions of competition injuries caused the athlete to miss more than 3 weeks of play (PR  =  1.28, 95% CI  =  1.08, 1.52), particularly in baseball (PR  =  3.47, 95% CI  =  1.48, 8.11) and volleyball (PR  =  2.88, 95% CI  =  1.01, 8.24). Conclusions: Rates and patterns of high school sport injuries differed between practice and competition. Providing athletic trainers with this information is a crucial step in developing the targeted, evidence-based interventions required to effectively reduce injury rates among the millions of high school student-athletes.


Retos ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 54-58
Author(s):  
Jesús Montalvo Panadero ◽  
José Luis Felipe Hernández ◽  
Leonor Gallardo Guerrero ◽  
Pablo Burillo Naranjo ◽  
Marta García Tascón

Como objetivo de esta investigación nos planteamos evaluar la calidad de las instalaciones deportivas y el equipamiento de los Institutos de Educación Secundaria, comprobando si cumplen la normativa vigente. Se trata de una investigación de metodología cuantitativa, con carácter descriptivo, a través del uso de varias listas de control, diseñadas expresamente para esta investigación. La muestra está formada por 21 centros educativos de Ciudad Real. Los resultados obtenidos nos muestran que el 90,48% de los centros escolares cuentan con espacios abiertos para la práctica de la actividad física, pero sólo el 61,90% cuentan con espacios abiertos que cumplen la Normativa sobre Instalaciones Deportivas y de Esparcimiento (N.I.D.E.). En referencia a los espacios cubiertos, el porcentaje de centros educativos que cuentan con estos espacios para realizar las clases de Educación Física es de un 85,71%, aunque el espacio cubierto existente no cumple la normativa vigente en el 76,19% de los casos. Este estudio muestra que las instalaciones deportivas escolares, presentan grandes carencias, sobre todo de m2 disponibles, en espacios deportivos y complementarios, por lo que sería muy positivo que a la normativa N.I.D.E. se le otorgase un carácter prescriptivo para los centros educativos, pudiéndose así, demandar una mejor dotación a la Administración educativa correspondiente.Palabra clave: Instalaciones deportivas escolares, equipamiento deportivo, espacios descubiertos y espacios cubiertos.Abstract: The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the quality of the sports facilities and equipment of High Schools, according with current regulations. This is a quantitative research methodology, with descriptive character, using several check lists designed explicitly for this investigation. The sample consists of 21 High Schools. The results obtained, show us that 90.48% of High Schools have «open spaces» for the practice of physical activity, but only 61.90% of them have open spaces according with the regulations N.I.D.E. (Legislation about Sport Facilities and Recreation). In terms of «covered spaces», there is a 85,71% of High Schools that include these spaces to carry out the Physical Education classes, although the existing covered area does not comply the regulations currently in force in the 76.19% of the cases. This study shows that high school sports facilities, have serious shortcomings, especially m2 available in sporting and complementary, so it would be very positive that the current regulations (N.I.D.E.) are granted a prescriptive character, so that would be mandatory for High Schools, and able to sue a better endowment to the corresponding educational Administration. Key words: Sports facilities, sports equipment, open spaces and covered spaces.


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen E. Yard ◽  
Christy L. Collins ◽  
R. Dawn Comstock

Abstract Context: High school athletes sustain more than 1.4 million injuries annually. National high school sports injury surveillance forms the foundation for developing and evaluating preventive interventions to reduce injury rates. For national surveillance, individuals must report consistently and accurately with little one-on-one interaction with study staff. Objective: To examine the feasibility of relying on high school coaches as data reporters in a national, Internet-based sports injury surveillance study, using the same methods that have already proven successful in the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, which calls on certified athletic trainers (ATs) as reporters. Design: Prospective injury surveillance study. Setting: Eighteen United States high schools Participants: Athletic trainers and varsity coaches for football, boys' and girls' soccer, and boys' and girls' basketball. Main Outcome Measure(s): Quantity and quality of exposure and injury reports. Results: All enrolled ATs participated, compared with only 43.0% of enrolled coaches. Participating ATs submitted 96.7% of expected exposure reports, whereas participating coaches submitted only 36.5%. All ATs reported athlete exposures correctly, compared with only 2 in 3 coaches. Participating ATs submitted 338 injury reports; participating coaches submitted only 55 (16.3% of the 338 submitted by ATs). Injury patterns differed between AT-submitted and coach-submitted injury reports, with ATs reporting a higher proportion of ankle injuries and coaches reporting a higher proportion of knee injuries. The reports submitted by ATs and coaches for the same injury had low agreement for diagnosis and time loss, with only 63.2% and 55.3% of pairs, respectively, providing the same response. The ATs lacked more responses for demographic questions, whereas coaches lacked more responses regarding the need for surgery. Conclusions: Whenever possible, ATs should be the primary data reporters in large, national studies. In high schools without access to an AT, researchers must be willing to devote significant time and resources to achieving high participation and compliance from other reporters.


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