Epidemiological Study of Sports Injuries and their Consequences in Recreational Sport in Spain

Introduction and objectives: A descriptive and analytical epidemiological study of cases was conducted. The aim was to evaluate sports injuries occurring while doing recreational sport in the geographical area of all regions of Spain. Method: A total of 1616 subjects who had suffered an injury in the last 12 months while doing recreational sport were interviewed. The information was collected using a digital database hosted on a web server connected to a digital survey which recorded the interviewees' responses. Results: 72.5% of the sample were men and 27.5% women. 74.4% of interviewees were 35 or under and the remaining 25.6% were over 35. The sport where most injuries occurred was football (27.6% of all accidents), followed by running (8.6 %), futsal (7.9%) and basketball (7.7%). Concerning consequences of the injuries, the sports with the highest percentage of sequelae after the accident were basketball (70.2% of all the injured people), football (69.5%) and cycling (66.7%). Furthermore, the sports that required rehabilitation the most after injury were athletics (78.9%), paddle tennis (72.2%) and tennis (71.7%). Finally, the sports where injury meant time off work with the greatest frequency were tennis (26.1%), futsal (26%) and martial arts (22.8%). Conclusions: The results show a general description of the influence that sports injuries and their consequences have on Spanish society. More comparative studies of cases of injured and uninjured athletes in amateur sport would be advisable to establish preventive campaigns.