Epidemiological Patterns of Initial and Subsequent Injuries in Collegiate Football Athletes

Background:A body of epidemiological studies has examined football injuries and associated risk factors among collegiate athletes. However, few existing studies specifically analyzed injury risk in terms of initial or subsequent injuries.Purpose:To determine athlete-exposures (AEs) and rates of initial and subsequent injury among collegiate football athletes.Study Design:Descriptive epidemiological study.Methods:Injury and exposure data collected from collegiate football players from two Division I universities (2007-2011) were analyzed. Rate of initial injury was calculated as the number of initial injuries divided by the total number of AEs for initial injuries, while the rate for subsequent injury was calculated as the number of subsequent injuries divided by the total number of AEs for subsequent injury. Poisson regression was used to determine injury rate ratio (subsequent vs initial injury), with adjustment for other covariates.Results:The total AEs during the study period were 67,564, resulting in ...