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Female lacrosse players more likely than males to be injured in head, face or eyes
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Female lacrosse players are significantly more likely than male players to sustain a head, face or eye injury, according to a study in the February issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Andrew E. Lincoln, ScD, MS, of the Medstar Research Institute, and colleagues culled data from more than 1 million high school and collegiate athletic exposures from the 2000 to 2003 lacrosse seasons.
The researchers found that high school-age girls sustained significantly more head, face and eye injuries than boys (0.54 vs. 0.38 per 1,000, respectively). Women in college also sustained a significantly higher rate of head, face and eye injuries than men (0.77 vs 0.44 per 1,000, respectively).
"Female players sustained more head, face and eye injuries partly because of a lack of protective equipment. Before 2005, protective eyewear was not required for females at any level of play. Our findings offer support to U.S. Lacrosse's (2005) mandate of protective eyewear for all female lacrosse players," the study authors said.
Concussion was the most common injury, occurring in a higher percentage of boys and men than in girls and women. Male players sustained substantially fewer facial injuries than female players, the authors said, and were more likely to become injured through player-to-player contact.
Injuries in women and girls resulted primarily from contact with the stick and ball, the authors noted.