Sports Injuries among Amateur Athletes at a Brazilian University

OBJECTIVE To obtain information on the incidence and nature of sports injuries at a Brazilian university. METHOD Data from 396 student amateur athletes (61% male) playing 15 different sports during the 2013 season were retrospectively evaluated. Subjects completed the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System questionnaire at the conclusion of the 2013 sports season. Injuries that resulted in at least one day of time lost were included. Exposure was defined as one student amateur athlete participating in one practice or game and is expressed as an athlete-exposure (A-E). RESULTS Injury rates were significantly greater in games (13.13 injuries per 1000 A-Es, 95% CI = 10.3-15) than in practices (4.47 injuries per 1000 A-Es, 95% CI = 3.9-5.1). The mechanisms that accounted for the most injuries in games and practices were player contact (52.9%) and non-contact (54.5%), respectively. Ankle ligament sprains were the most common injury (18.2% of all reported injuries). A relatively high incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injury was also observed (0.16 injuries per 1000 A-Es). CONCLUSION Brazilian student amateur athletes are at great risk of sustaining non-contact injuries such as ankle sprains and anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Level III of Evidence, Study of non consecutive patients; without consistently applied reference ''gold'' standard.