The National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System 3-year findings of high school and college football injuries

The National Athletic Injury/Illness Reporting System is a national surveillance system created from several workshops at which physicians, athletic trainers, and sports administrators shared their ideas for obtaining meaningful data. The primary objective was to provide a feasible and inexpensive mechanism for the continuous collection and analysis of information on sports-related injuries. Additionally, the project offers institutions and agencies a useful system of recordkeeping. NAIRS collects data on a wide range of sports, however, this report clarifies the risk of injury for high school and college football. Presented are data on neurotrauma, meniscus/knee sprains, and ankle sprains. Playing surface, surface hardness, surface friction, and shoe-turf interface were also examined. It was concluded that no helmet type or brand was associated with unusually high levels of risk. Artificial surfaces did not constitute an additional risk of significant concussion. An association between playing surface and the risk of knee and ankle injuries was observed.