Safety Situation and Injury Status of Students in Schools, Ardabil-Iran

Background. Sports injuries emanating from low-standard sports facilities and equipment are concerning because they can result in time lost from sports participation and school, social costs, and the economic costs of medical care. Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the safety situation and the injury status of students in Ardabil city schools, Iran. Methods. The study population consisted of all schools in Ardabil city. For data collection purposes, 153 checklists seeking to gauge the safety situation and the number of injuries among students were distributed among these schools. Results. The results from the Chi-square analysis indicated that, in general, there was a statistically significant relationship between the safety of the school sports areas and equipment on the one hand, and the frequency of injury incidence among the students on the other. With regard to the relationship between safety components and the factors involved in injury, Chi-square tests showed that among the five components of sport fields and equipment safety, only two components—namely sports ground and boundaries safety—had a significant relationship with the injury of students. Conclusion. Hence, the authorities need to pay more attention to school safety components in general and the safety of sports grounds and boundaries in particular.