Epidemiology of Injuries in High School Cheerleaders: A 6-Month Prospective Surveillance Study
| Author | Kazuyuki Takeda | en |
| Author | Shota Enoki | en |
| Author | Yuki Koto | en |
| Author | Masataka Majima | en |
| Author | Tomoya Nakashima | en |
| Author | Saki Ibe | en |
| Author | Rieko Kuramochi | en |
| Issued Date | 2025-06-30 | en |
| Abstract | Background: Cheerleading has the highest number of direct fatalities and catastrophic injuries among female sports. Injuries occur more frequently among high school students than college students; however, few studies of high school cheerleaders have reported on the severity of injuries. Objectives: To examine the incidence of injury and days absent among high school cheerleaders in Japan. Methods: This prospective cohort study recorded injuries among 74 high school cheerleaders who participated over the 6-month period from September 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020. The study included cheerleaders aged 15 - 17 years who belonged to a team affiliated with the Regional Federation of the Japan Cheerleading Association and had competed in the 2018 Japan Cup. Over the 6-month observation period, 10 participants were lost to follow-up, resulting in a final sample of 64 athletes for analysis. The 64 participants had a mean age of 15.8 ± 0.6 years and an average of 1.8 ± 2.0 years of cheerleading experience. The number of days of activity, injury type, injury location, maneuver attempted at the time of injury, date of injury, and duration of absence were obtained via interviews with participants. The incidence of injuries was determined by calculating the number of injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures (AEs). Results: A total of 29 injuries were reported across 8,025 AEs, resulting in an injury rate of 3.61 per 1,000 AEs. The most commonly injured body areas were the head and knee [0.62/1000 AEs, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08 - 1.17]. Joint sprain (1.37/1000 AEs, 95% CI: 0.56 - 2.18) was the most common injury pathology. Most time-loss injuries resulted in a duration of absence of > 28 days (n = 12, 41.4%). Within this duration of absence, the most commonly injured locations were the elbow and wrist (each n = 3, 25.0%), the injury type was joint sprain (n = 6, 50.0%), and the maneuver attempted at the time of injury was a stunt (n = 7, 58.3%). Two injuries resulted in a duration of absence of > 6 months, both of which were anterior cruciate ligament injuries of the knee. The highest number of injuries occurred during stunts (n = 23), accounting for 79.3% of all injuries. Conclusions: Among all injuries sustained by high school cheerleaders, knee ligament injuries occurred most frequently and resulted in the highest durations of absence. However, as this study was limited to a sample of 64 cheerleaders from teams competing at the championship level, the findings may not be generalizable to all high school cheerleaders in Japan. | en |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5812/asjsm-163947 | en |
| Keyword | Injury Surveillance | en |
| Keyword | Epidemiology | en |
| Keyword | Cheerleading | en |
| Publisher | Brieflands | en |
| Title | Epidemiology of Injuries in High School Cheerleaders: A 6-Month Prospective Surveillance Study | en |
| Type | Research Article | en |
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