Epidemiology of injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball: 2014–2015 through 2018–2019

Abstract

Context: Basketball has remained a popular sport for players and spectators in the United States since before the first National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s championship tournament in 1939. Background: Routine examinations of men’s basketball injuries are important for identifying emerging temporal patterns. Methods: Exposure and injury data collected in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program during 2014–2015 through 2018–2019 athletic seasons were analyzed. Injury counts, rates, and proportions were used to describe injury characteristics, and injury rate ratios were used to examine differences in injury rates. Results: The overall injury rate was 7.28 per 1000 athlete exposures, with competition rates twice those of practices (injury rate ratio ¼ 2.07; 95% CI ¼ 1.93, 2.22). Injuries to the ankle (22.2%), knee (13.0%), head/face (11.3%), and hand/wrist (10.1%) accounted for most reported injuries, with sprains (30.4%), contusions (14.3%), and strains (13.9%) most commonly reported. Ankle sprain rates initially trended upward and decreased between 2017–2018 and 2018–2019; concussion rates remained relatively stable during 2014–2015 through 2018–2019. Conclusions: Findings suggest that common injury rates are trending downward relative to previous study findings.