Contribution of sex, sports and activity types and curriculum load distribution to intracurricular injury risk in physical education teacher education: a cohort study

Objectives To investigate the influence of sports/activity types and their distribution over the curriculum years on intracurricular injury risk differences between curriculum years and sexes in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) studies. Methods In a cohort study over 14 years (2000-2014), injuries reported at the medical facility of a Dutch vocational institute by PETE students who completed their full curriculum were registered. Intracurricular injury rates (IR) per 1000 hours and 95% CIs were calculated per sport, sex and curriculum year and compared with injury rate ratios (RR) and 95% CI. Exposure times per sports category per curriculum year were compared with the χ 2 test. Results Intracurricular IR was highest for gymnastics, team ball sports and track and field (0.76-1.23, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.45). IRs were higher for female compared with male students (RR 2.38, 95% CI 1.97 to 2.87). Comparisons for all individual sports and for all three curriculum years showed the same pattern. IR for the first year was higher than for the second (RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.45 to 2.21) and third year (RR 2.74, 95% CI 2.13 to 3.54) with similar patterns for all sports categories. Over the curriculum years, exposure time distributions per sport showed small differences (p<0.001, Cramer's V=0.07). Conclusion Curriculum year, sex and sports types are risk factors to be independently targeted for preventive and rehabilitative measures in PETE studies. The nature and aetiology of injuries in mixed sports, and the adaption to increased loads in first-year and female PETE students, need further investigation.