Lateral ankle sprain (LAS) is a common injury with a high recurrence rate. Potential inequities in care provided may contribute to recurrence. The purpose of this study was to describe LAS classified as ‘recurrent’ in NCAA Division I athletes across select gender comparable sports, assessing for potential differences in occurrence and healthcare utilization by gender, race/ ethnicity, and recurrence type.
This descriptive epidemiology design used de-identified medical records from 14,030 student athletes from a single conference who reported injuries from August 2016-November 2021. Sport-related LAS were stratified by recurrence type (i.e. new sprain, first recurrence, multiple recurrence). Frequencies by gender, race/ethnicity, and gender comparable sport (i.e. baseball/softball, basketball, and cross country/track) were calculated. Athletic training services (ATS) provided and whether a physician-level encounter (PE) occurred were noted for each LAS.
Of the 2,862 ankle sprains reported overall, 2,168 (75.8%) were LAS. Of those, 334 occurred in gender comparable sports and reported race/ethnicity. Of the 334 LAS analyzed, 72.2% were new sprains (n=241), 13.5% (n=45) were first recurrence, and 14.4% (n=48) were multiple recurrence. Within gender comparable sports, there were no significant associations between recurrence type and gender (X2=0.04, P=0.98) or race/ethnicity (X2=5.52, P=0.24). When assessing the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, recurrence type was not associated with race/ethnicity when assessing men or women separately (X2=8.80, P=0.07, X2=1.75, P=0.78). ATS were most frequent for new sprains (n=2,013/2,735, 73.6%). PE were most frequent for new sprains (n=67/86, 77.9%) with no association between gender and PE (X2=0.24, P=0.89).
Approximately 28% of LAS were classified as recurrent in gender comparable sports. Though LAS recurrence rate was relatively high, there was no evidence of inequities in healthcare utilization or access in these collegiate student-athletes.
Source: Brown CN, Bovbjerg VE, Johnson ST, Norcross MF. Lateral Ankle Sprain Recurrence and Healthcare Utilization by Gender, Race/ Ethnicity, and Sport in Division I Collegiate Athletes. J Athl Train. 2023;58(6S):210.
