COVID-19 Return to Sport: Fall Sports Collegiate Athletics Injury Prevalence Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly affected the world and way of life due to the initiation of public health regulations and precautionary measures. Many athletes, at various levels of play, experienced disruptions in their competitive seasons and training opportunities to reduce the spread of COVID-19. At the professional level, an increase in the prevalence of sports-related injuries following the COVID-19 pandemic was depicted in a previous study. Research has yet to examine the effects of COVID-19 on injury epidemiology at the collegiate level. Sports-related injuries can be detrimental to the careers of student-athletes who have a short window of opportunity. The objective of this research is to examine the effects of COVID-19 on injury epidemiology in collegiate fall sports. Methods: A Midwest small-college collegiate athletic conference involving the states of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, was selected for the study. De-identified injury data for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021 fall sports seasons was obtained from the collegiate sports medicine staff. All schools and sports were originally included; however, exclusions were taken due to data disruptions or no response. The injury data was tallied for each season, sport, and anatomical region. An unpaired t-test was used to compare the conference mean number of injuries per season for each sport. An unpaired t-test was also used to compare the conference mean number of injuries per anatomical region. Results: There was no statistically significant difference (P>.05) in injuries per season in this college fall sport (Football, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer) population. There was also no statistically significant difference (P>.05) in injuries to anatomical region for any fall sport. Conclusions: There may be several factors attributing to the results of this study. We conclude that these might include increased time between competition, decreased travel, practice regulations, and decreased injury reporting due to fear of going to medical facilities and acquiring COVID-19 infection. Injury epidemiology and data is limited for small college fall sports and women’s sports. This study provides the first insight into small college fall sports and women’s sports injury epidemiology after COVID-19.