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Int J Sports Med
DOI: 10.1055/a-2240-7747
Clinical Sciences

An Epidemiologic Comparison of Injuries to Skiers and Snowboarders Treated at United States Emergency Departments, 2000–2019

Naomi Kelley
1   Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States
,
Lauren Pierpoint
2   Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, United States
,
Anahita Saeedi
3   Biostatistics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, United States
,
Justin E. Hellwinkel
4   Orthopaedics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, United States
,
Morteza Khodaee
5   Family Medicine, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, United States
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Abstract

Skiing and snowboarding are popular competitive and recreational sports that can be associated with significant injury. Previous studies of skiing and snowboarding injuries have been conducted, but studies evaluating injury types and patterns over long periods of time are needed to drive effective injury prevention efforts. We hypothesized that injury patterns would differ among snowboarders and skiers and that the number of injuries remained constant over time. This is a retrospective study of patients presenting with skiing or snowboarding injuries to the United States emergency departments from 2000 to 2019. A total of 34,720 injured skiers (48.0%) and snowboarders (52.0%) presented to US emergency departments over a 20-year period, representing an estimated 1,620,576 injuries nationwide. There is a decreasing trend of the number of injuries over the study period (p=0.012). Males represented the majority (65.7%) of injuries. Skiers were older than snowboarders (mean 30.1 vs. 20.0 years; p<0.001) and patients aged<18 represented more snowboarding (57.0%) than skiing (43.0%) injuries (p<0.001). Common diagnoses included fractures (33.0%) and sprains/strains (26.9%). Snowboarders primarily presented with upper extremity injuries, meanwhile, skiers primarily presented with lower extremity injuries. Most patients (93.2%), were treated and discharged from the emergency departments. Understanding the epidemiology of injuries presenting to emergency departments can help guide prehospital care and medical coverage allocation for resorts and event organizers, as well as identifying areas for targeted injury prevention efforts.

Keywords

winter sports - skiing - snowboarding - fracture - sprain - contusion


Publication History

Received: 16 July 2023

Accepted: 08 January 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
08 January 2024

Article published online:
24 February 2024

© 2024. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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