Objective: Describe ankle injury epidemiology among US high school athletes in 20 sports.
Design: Descriptive prospective epidemiology study.
Setting: Sports injury data for the 2005/06 to 2010/11 academic years were collected using an Internet-based injury surveillance system, Reporting Information Online.
Participants: A nationwide convenience sample of US high schools.
Assessment of risk factors: Injuries sustained as a function of sport and gender.
Main outcome measures: Ankle sprain rates and patterns, outcomes, and mechanisms.
Results: From 2005/06 to 2010/11, certified athletic trainers reported 5373 ankle sprains in 17,172,376 athlete exposures (AEs), for a rate of 3.13 ankle sprains per 10,000 AEs. Rates were higher for girls than for boys (rate ratio [RR], 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-1.34) in gender-comparable sports and higher in competition than practice for boys (RR, 3.42; 95% CI, 3.20-3.66) and girls (RR, 2.71; 95% CI, 2.48-2.95). The anterior talofibular ligament was most commonly injured (involved in 85.3% of sprains). Overall, 49.7% of sprains resulted in loss of participation from 1 to 6 days. Although 0.5% of all ankle sprains required surgery, 6.6% of those involving the deltoid ligament also required surgery. The athletes were wearing ankle braces in 10.6% of all the sprains. The most common injury mechanism was contact with another person (42.4% of all ankle sprains).
Conclusions: Ankle sprains are a serious problem in high school sports, with high rates of recurrent injury and loss of participation from sport.