Athletic Training

Collegiate student athletes experience general medical injuries and illnesses, however there is limited information on what athletic trainers (AT) and team physicians evaluate and treat, as well as the healthcare utilization associated.

PURPOSE

To describe general medical injuries and illnesses by onset (acute and overuse), stratified by time-lost (time-loss [TL] and non-time-loss [NTL]), across collegiate sports teams.

METHODS

De-identified electronic medical records were obtained from all teams at sponsoring institutions. Injuries and illnesses coded as “sport-related” by documenting AT from August 2017 to March 2020 were collected, representing 351 men’s and 459 women’s team seasons. Deficiencies, illnesses (environmental, gastrointestinal, infection, metabolic, neurological, or opthalmological), respiratory diseases, and skin conditions were identified. Injury frequencies and mean occurrences per team per season were calculated, describing associated healthcare utilization.

RESULTS

A total of 580 cases were identified, representing 2.9% of all injuries/illnesses for that time period (n = 20080). Acute-NTL were most frequent in men (n = 184, 31.7%) and women (n = 94, 16.2%). Acute-TL represented 25.5% of cases for men (n = 148) and 15.3% of cases for women (n = 89). Wrestling (n = 127, 21.9%) and Football (n = 113, 19.5%) had the highest frequencies, while highest mean occurrences per team per season were in Wrestling (n = 127, 14.1) and women’s Rowing (n = 82, 11.7). Infection (n = 196, 33.6%) and illness (n = 192, 32.9%) diagnoses were most frequent. Physician encounters numbered 350, of which 61.7% (n = 216) were for men, with 149 AT Services, of which 64.4% (n = 96) were in men. Medications prescribed (n = 105) were mainly in men (n = 67, 63.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

Infection and skin conditions in Wrestling and illnesses in Football and women’s Rowing occurred most frequently. Though infrequent, a variety of other conditions presented that team physicians and ATs must be prepared to recognize and treat.

This project was supported by the Pac-12 Conference’s Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Initiative. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Pac-12 Conference, or its members.