Is body mass index a risk factor for sport injury in adolescents?

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between sport injury and body mass index in adolescents (12-19 years).

Design: Secondary analysis of data collected in junior and senior high school surveys in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Participants (n=4339) included students from 59 schools. All sport injury was defined as injury reported in the past one year. Medically treated injury, as any more serious sport related injury reported in the last year that required medical attention. Overweight, obese, and healthy was defined using international cut points, as the exposure.

Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for clustering by school, and adjusting for potential risk factors was used. There was a 34% increased risk for all sport injury in obese adolescents compared to healthy adolescents [odds ratio (OR)=1.34 (95% CI: 1.02-1.80)]. There was increased risk for all sport injury and medically treated injury with hours of participation, where the highest group had a 4-fold increase in risk (OR=4.17, 95%CI: 2.77-6.30 and OR=3.80, 95%CI: 2.54-5.69, respectively). There was also increased risk for both all sport injury and medically treated injury in Caucasians compared to non-Caucasians [OR=1.45 (95%CI: 1.15-1.82), OR=1.94 (95%CI: 1.59-2.37), respectively], as well as for club/team play compared to less elite play [OR=1.87 (95%CI: 1.43-2.44) and OR=2.12 (95%CI: 1.57-2.87), respectively].

Conclusions: The risk of sustaining a sport injury in obese adolescents was greater compared to those of healthy weight. There is also a greater risk with increasing hours of play, in Caucasian adolescents, and those that play at a higher sporting level.

Keywords: Adolescent; Athletic injury; Body mass index; Prevention; Risk factors.