Which sports have the highest injury rates?
While injuries can occur in any sport, some sports generate more injuries than others. According to Stanford Children’s Health, about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of an organized sport. Of those, more than 3.5 million injuries occur, causing the participants to lose time participating.
The leading cause of death from sports injuries comes from an injury to the brain, which would be the most dangerous injury in sports. Contact sports like football obviously have a higher injury rate compared to non-contact sports like swimming. However, the majority of traumatic brain injuries are sustained in sports and activities like skating, skateboarding, or bicycling.
The following is a sports injury statistics list of the top five sports that have the highest injury rates with an accounting of the ages of those injured.
Basketball leads the list with 533,509:
- Age 0 to 4: 0.4%
- Age 5 to 14: 32.80%
- Age 15 to 24: 47.80%
- Age 25 to 64: 18.80%
- Age 65 and over: 0.20%
Bicycling – 521,578 injuries:
- Age 0 to 4: 4.6%
- Age 5 to 14: 33.4%
- Age 15 to 24: 18.3%
- Age 25 to 64: 39%
- Age 65 and over: 4.7%
Football – 420,581 injuries:
- Age 0 to 4: 0.3%
- Age 5 to 14: 51.2%
- Age 15 to 24: 39.5%
- Age 25 to 64: 8.9%
- Age 65 and over: 0.1%
General exercise – 365,797 injuries:
- Age 0 to 4: 1.5%
- Age 5 to 14: 10.6%
- Age 15 to 24: 20.6%
- Age 25 to 64: 56%
- Age 65 and over: 11.3%
Soccer – 229,088 injuries:
- Age 0 to 4: 0.8%
- Age 5 to 14: 44.6%
- Age 15 to 24: 37.8%
- Age 25 to 64: 16.4%
- Age 65 and over: 0.3%
While each sport has its rewards, and players find joy and satisfaction playing, each also has its risks. When you are out playing your favorite sport, take care of yourself and have fun.