Women's injuries in collegiate sports. A preliminary comparative overview of three seasons.

The purpose of this article was to provide a preliminary overview of the injury experiences among collegiate women athletes which were reported to the National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System (NAIRS) during its first 3 operational years (1975 to 1978). More dissimilarities in injury patterns were observed between women's sports than between comparable men and women's sports. The results thereby are interpreted that injuries to women athletes are essentially sport-related, not sex-related. Further investigative reports on women athletic injuries should be delimited to respective sports and over a period of time. Attention should be given to the patterns of injury within a sport, including shifts in patterns, so that practicable preventive measures can be perceived, implemented, and subsequently evaluated.