Sports injuries

Abstract

Stress generated by sports practice has increased the probability that athletes suffer from acute and chronic injuries. Worldwide, there have been many different investigations concerning the incidence of sport injuries. The different ways in which results have been presented makes it difficult to compare among them. Rates of sports injuries vary between 1.7 and 53 per 1.000 hours of sports practice; 0.8 and 90.9 per 1.000 hours of training; 3.1 and 54.8 per 1.000 hours of competition, and 6.1 and 10.9 per 100 games. The great variability among the incidence rates may be explained by differences among sports, countries, competitive levels, ages and methodology used in the studies. Sports injuries have been defined as those occurring when athletes are practicing sports and that result in tissue alterations or damages, affecting the operation of the corresponding structures. Contact sports such as soccer, rugby, martial arts, basketball, handball and hockey generate greater risk of injuries. The probability of lesions is higher during competition than in training.