Epidemiology Of Inflammatory Conditions In National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Sports: NCAA ISP 2009/10-2018/19

Repetitive sport activity without enough rest can cause tissue microtrauma and result in an extended musculoskeletal inflammatory response. Elite athletes at the collegiate level are at particular risk for these types of injuries. Female athletes in this level can be at an increased risk for inflammatory conditions due to biomechanical and physiological characteristics. PURPOSE: Describe the epidemiology of inflammatory conditions in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s sports. METHODS: Inflammatory conditions reported in women’s sports to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) by athletic trainers during 2009/10-2018/19 were analyzed. Injury incidence (rates per 10,000 athlete exposures [AEs]) was examined overall and by sport and event type (practices/competitions). 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 (95% Cred. Int.). Prevalences of most commonly reported conditions were expressed as frequencies (%s). RESULTS: During the study period, the NCAA ISP recorded 3595 inflammatory conditions and 4,804,395 AEs in women’s sports. The most commonly reported inflammatory conditions were medial tibial stress syndrome (14.4%), and patellar tendinitis (12.0%). We determined the posterior mean overall rate to be 8.28 per 10,000 AEs (95% Cred. Int.: 5.29, 12.98). Estimated competition injury incidence (posterior mean = 6.65 per 10,000 AEs; 95% Cred. Int.: 4.14, 10.43) was descriptively lower than practice (posterior mean = 8.78 per 10,000 AEs; 95% Cred. Int.: 5.69, 14.33). The estimated overall injury incidence was highest in women’s cross country (posterior mean = 16.96 per 10,000 AEs; 95% Cred. Int.: 10.46, 27.75). CONCLUSIONS: Inflammatory conditions most prevalently occurred in the lower limb. Injury incidence was higher in practice, and cross-country had the highest injury incidence. Targeted injury prevention strategies to reduce inflammatory conditions could include optimizing rest periods via practice scheduling. Future research should focus on sport-specific interventions that address the unique biomechanical and physiological factors contributing to inflammatory conditions in female athletes. Supported by: The NCAA Injury Surveillance Program is funded by the NCAA. The Datalys Center is an independent nonprofit organization that runs the operation of the NCAA ISP. The content of this report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the funding agency.