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The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research

Due to the success of football injury research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR) was initiated during the 1982-83 school year. As a result of the football research important contributions to the game have been made and include the 1976 rule changes, the football helmet standard, improved medical care for the participants, and better coaching techniques.

The purpose of the NCCSIR was to expand the data collection to all sports at the high school and college levels. Catastrophic injuries were defined as fatalities, permanent disability injuries, and serious injuries with complete recovery. At the present time the NCCSIR has a data base of football fatalities at all levels of play from 1931 – 2009, football disability injuries at all levels of play from 1977-2009, and all catastrophic sports injuries for both males and females at the high school and college levels from 1982-83 – 2007-2008.

Injuries are classified as DIRECT (injuries that resulted directly from participation in the skills of the sport, and INDIRECT (injuries that were caused by systemic failure as a result of exertion while participating in a sport activity or by a complication that was secondary to a non-fatal injury).

Data are compiled with the assistance of coaches, athletic trainers, athletic directors, executive officers of state and national organizations, online news reports, and professional associates of the researchers. The NCCSIR has the support of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

For the 26-year period from the fall of 1982 through the spring of 2008 there have been 1116 direct catastrophic injuries in high school and college sports. High school sports were associated with 152 fatalities, 379 disability injuries, and 374 serious injuries for a total of 905. College sports accounted for 22 fatalities, 63 disability injuries, and 126 serious injuries for a total of 211. During this same 26-year period of time there have been a total of 564 indirect injuries and all but twelve resulted in death. Four hundred and fifty-eight of the indirect injuries were at the high school level and 106 at the college level. During this twenty-six year period there have been 154,670,609 high school athletes participating in the sports covered. Using these participation numbers would give a high school direct catastrophic injury rate of 0.59 per 100,000 athletes. The indirect rate was 0.30 per 100,000 participants. If direct and indirect injuries were combined the injury rate would be 0.88 per 100,000. This means that approximately one high school athlete out of every 100,000 participating would receive some type of catastrophic injury. The combined fatality rate was 0.39, the disability rate was 0.25, and the serious rate 0.25.

During this same time period there were approximately 8,454,483 college participants with a total direct catastrophic injury rate of 2.50 per 100,000 participants. The indirect rate was 1.25. If both direct and indirect injuries were combined the injury rate would be 3.75. The combined fatality rate was 1.48, the disability rate 0.78, and the serious rate 1.50 per 100,000 participants.

There have been a total of 112 direct and 56 indirect catastrophic injuries to female high school athletes during this same time period, and 44 direct and 11 indirect to college female athletes. These numbers include cheerleading.

Sports that are included in the data collection are those that have had a catastrophic injury. The following tables illustrate the sport and the number of direct and indirect catastrophic injuries:

High School Sports

College Sports

Frederick O. Mueller, PhD, Founder/Director, NCCSIR
National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research
Email: mueller@email.unc.edu
Phone: 919-962-5171
http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi