The Epidemiology of United States High School Soccer Injuries, 2005–2007

Background United States high school soccer participation increased 5 fold over the last 30 years. With increased participation comes increased injury incidence. Hypothesis High school soccer injury patterns will vary by gender and type of exposure. Study Design Descriptive epidemiologic study. Methods Soccer-related injury data were collected over the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 school years from 100 nationally representative United States high schools via Reporting Information Online (RIO, an Internet-based sports-related injury surveillance system). Results Participating certified athletic trainers reported 1524 soccer injuries during 637 446 athlete exposures (AEs), for an injury rate of 2.39 per 1000 AEs, corresponding to a nationally estimated 807 492 soccer-related injuries during the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 seasons. The injury rate per 1000 AEs was greater during competition (4.77) than practice (1.37) (rate ratio [RR] = 3.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.15–3.87). Overall, the most frequent diagnoses were incomplete ligament sprains (26.8%), incomplete muscle strains (17.9%), contusions (13.8%), and concussions (10.8%). The most commonly injured body sites were the ankle (23.4%), knee (18.7%), head/face (13.7%), and thigh/upper leg (13.1%). Similar proportions of boys (57.9%) and girls (53.9%) returned to activity in