Knowledge and Attitudes of Coaches Regarding Sports Related Oro-Facial Injuries in Chennai, India

Background/Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of sports coaches regarding sports related injuries and its prevention using a questionnaire survey design. Material and Methods: A modified questionnaire was distributed to 50 coaches of various sports teams in different parts of Chennai city in India between October 2009 and February 2010. The statistical analyses were carried out by SPSS version 18.0 and the data were analyzed. Results: Out of 50 coaches, 94% were males and 6% were females with mean age of 38.74 years. 70% of the coaches found the frequency of injury in the range of 1-5, which included soft tissue injury (46%) followed by bruise and dental trauma. 66% of the coaches believed that boxing was the sports event most likely to cause injury, but boxing, football and rugby (38.5%) were the sports which actually caused injury. The mechanism of injury was mainly due to collision (42%). The protective devices most commonly used were helmet (61.4%) and mouth guards (47.7%). 70% of the coaches felt that nonuse of protective devices can cause injuries sometimes. 68% of the coaches found that protective devices enhance the efficiency of the players and 76% considered the use of protective devices based on the type of games. Conclusions: The results show that there is an increasing acceptance to the use of protective devices among the coaches of Chennai, but its usage was mostly based on the type of game.