Injury Incidence In NCAA Sports During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Findings From Injury Surveillance

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented disruptions to daily life, and also had significant impacts on sport participation at all levels including at the collegiate level. We aimed to describe injury incidence in National Collegiate Athletic Association men's and women's sports during the 2019/20-2020/21 seasons. METHODS: Injuries reported to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) by athletic trainers during 2019/20-2020/21 were analyzed. Injury incidence (rates per 1,000 athlete exposures (AEs)) was examined overall and by sport, event type (practices/competitions) and division. Bayesian Negative Binomial models were used to estimate injury rates, with estimated incidence and differential incidence presented in terms of posterior means and 95% Credible Intervals (Cred. Int.). Prevalences of the most reported specific injuries were expressed as frequencies (%s). RESULTS: During 2019/20-2020/21, the NCAA ISP recorded 15,780 injuries and 2,053,724 AEs in men’s sports, and 7,685 injuries and 1,197,045 AEs in women’s sports. We determined the posterior mean overall rate to be 8.28 per 1,000 AEs (95% Cred. Int.: 5.59, 13.18) in men’s sports and 6.99 per 1,000 AEs (95% Cred. Int.: 4.64, 11.38) in women’s sports. Estimated injury incidence was higher in competitions than practices in men’s (Posterior mean Ratio: 3.49; 95% Cred. Int.: 1.84, 6.09) and women’s (Posterior mean Ratio: 2.11; 95% Cred. Int.: 1.11, 3.68) sports. Among all men’s sports, overall injury incidence was highest in men’s football (Posterior mean = 12.14 per 1,000 AEs; 95% Cred. Int.: 8.09, 19.75), and among all women’s sports, it was highest in women’s gymnastics (Posterior mean = 18.61 per 1,000 AEs; 95% Cred. Int.: 12.13, 29.93). Lateral ankle sprains and concussions were the most commonly reported injuries in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Injury incidence during the study period remained consistent with historical patterns, with higher rates observed in contact/collision sports and during competitions relative to practices. Common injuries also aligned with previous observations in this population. As pandemic-related disruptions impacted sports differently during this period, future efforts may examine injury incidence in juxtaposition to specific scheduling disruptions to identify potential patterns. Supported by: The NCAA Injury Surveillance Program is funded by the NCAA.