Abstract
CONTEXT: While bone health remains a critical concern for women of all ages, there exists limited research on the comprehensive incidence of fractures among female collegiate athletes. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of sport-related fractures across women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING: Injury surveillance in collegiate women's sports. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Women competing in NCAA sports during 2009/10-2018/19. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): We examined fracture frequencies and distributions by sport, mechanism of injury, the injured body part, and injury history. We used a Bayesian framework to estimate fracture rates (per 10,000 AEs) by sport and event type. RESULTS: The NCAA ISP recorded 944 fractures across all women's sports during the study period, and fractures were most frequently reported among lower extremity body parts. Fractures were most commonly reported as non-contact/overuse injuries (39.0%), although equipment/apparatus contact mechanisms accounted for > 60% of fractures reported in field hockey and ice hockey. Fracture recurrence was most prevalently noted in track and field (17.8%) and gymnastics (17.6%). The posterior mean overall injury rate was 2.16 per 10,000 AEs (95% Credible Interval: [1.39, 3.44]), and the highest overall rate was estimated in gymnastics (Posterior mean= 6.29; 95% Credible Interval: [3.70, 10.31]). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that fractures in women's gymnastics, lower leg fractures and fractures attributed to non-contact/overuse mechanisms, particularly among long-distance runners, warrant further attention in this population. Our results can inform targeted research efforts aimed at better understanding and improving bone health outcomes for female athletes.