Factores asociados a las lesiones de la región de cabeza, cara y cuello en surfistas recreativos de Acapulco, México.

Introduction: Surfing carries potential and significant risk of head and face injuries in almost half of the surfers admitted to emergency departments. Objective: To estimate the frequency of head, face and neck injuries and identify associated factors in recreational surfers in Acapulco, Mexico. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 125 surfers conducted via an online survey during the period January - August 2023. With the Mantel-Haenszel process, the odds ratio (OR) along its confidence interval of 95% (95%CI) were estimated for explanatory factors associated with injuries with the CIETmap statistical package. Results: In the last year, the 37.6% (n=47) of surfers have experienced at least one injury to the head, face and neck region. The highest proportion of injuries were superficial scrapes (51.1%; n=24/47) caused by the impact with the surfboard (82.9%; n=39/47). Three factors were associated with independent effect in the final multivariate model: practice ≤ 10 years (aOR= 0.32; CI95%= 0.11-0.94), wave size ≥ 2 meters (aOR= 0.27; CI95%= 0.09 - 0.82) and not use of the board leash (aOR= 3.64; CI95= 1.70 - 8.94). Conclusion: Head, face, and neck injuries in Acapulco surfers are moderate, mostly superficial, and mainly caused by surfboard impacts; key risks include ≤10 years of experience, smaller waves, and not using a leash. The findings underline the importance of promoting safety measures such as the use of leashes on the board, even among more experienced surfers, to reduce the risk of injury in this sport.