Prevalence of sports injuries among high school students in United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT

The study intended to assess the prevalence of sports injuries among high school students. This cross sectional study was carried out using data from 300 students aged 9 to 18 years at Dubai International School and Universal American High School, UAE. A self-administered questionnaire was employed with open- and close-ended questions to collect the data. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 19.0 and Chi-square test was applied to find the association between variables. The study population included 43.7% males and 56.3% females. Most of the students [74.3%] belonged to 13-15 year age group. More than half the respondents [58.3%] were in Grade 9. Over half the students [67.6%] had been injured during sports activities, the most common type of injury was sprains [34.5%]. Chi square test showed a significant association between history injury and participation [p<0.03]. Upon being injured medical treatment [66.7%] had been used as the most common option among the students. Sports injuries are common among the high school students. Therefore, awareness of possible sport injuries should be included in the school health programs