The Injury/Illness Profile of a University-Based Summer Sport Camp Program

Background/Purpose: Youth athletes commonly attend summer sport camps; however, there is a dearth of information to describe the injuries/illnesses incurred by this population. Injury surveillance in other settings, such as high school athletic programs, has yielded epidemiology studies which have successfully identified injury risks and trends, and highlighted the need for appropriate sports health care services. Comprehensive documentation of all injuries/illnesses, and related health care services, is key. The purpose of this study was to describe the injury/illness experience of youth summer sport camp participants.

Method: Twenty-eight sports were represented at a Division I university’s 10-week sport camp program. There were 85 and 83 camps for 2012 and 2013, respectively. Camp enrollment, comprised of male and female participants ages 7 through 19 years, totaled 8,716 over 338 camp days for 2012. A sport-camp-specific, paper-based, standardized injury/illness documentation and surveillance system was developed and implemented beginning in 2012. The sports health care staff served as the recorders. 

Analysis/Results: The data were entered into an electronic spreadsheet and coded according to the National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System. Frequency counts were obtained for all variables of interest. Independent variables included sport and participant age and gender. Dependent variables included affected body part, injury/illness type, and medical referral type. The rates for participant-staff contacts (defined as any instance in which a participant sought health care services), new injuries/illnesses, and referrals were calculated per 10,000 exposures (measured in participant-days). For 2012, there were 3,197 contacts, 1,211 new injuries/illnesses, and 78 medical referrals recoded by 58 staff members. The knee was most commonly affected by new injuries/illnesses (10.7%), and skin conditions, such as abrasions, comprised 48.9% of new injuries/illnesses. Concussion was the most common reason for medical referrals (32.1%). Girls’ gymnastics had the highest contact rate (3,393.0/10,000 exposures), boys’ gymnastics the highest new injury/illness rate (558.2/10,000 exposures), and wrestling the highest referral rate (10.8/10,000 exposures). Our final results will include data scheduled to be collected during the summer 2013 season. 

Conclusions: This study demonstrated the need for sports health care professionals at youth summer sport camps, as evidenced by the frequency with which participant-staff contacts, injuries/illnesses, and medical referrals occurred. Additionally, an appreciation can be gained for the variability of health care needs by sport and by gender. Description of the injury/illness experience can serve to increase sports health care preparedness, and support the implementation of associated policies, procedures, and protocols to promote camp participant safety.