Estimated Costs of Injuries in College and High School Female Sports

Abstract

Injury rates in thirteen U.S. women’s college sports and four U.S. girls’ high school sports are examined in this paper. The sports are categorized as high injury (H) or low injury (L) and differences in injury rates between the two are examined. Estimates are presented of the injury savings that would result if the H sports were changed to have injury rates similar to those in the L sports. The estimated college savings are 13,610 fewer injuries per year and 2,020 fewer healthy years lost-to-injury per year. The estimated high school savings are 143,900 fewer injuries per year and 24,300 fewer healthy years lost-to-injury per year. For concussions the savings are 2,750 per year for college and 49,390 per year for high school. The estimated dollar value (in 2015 dollars) of the total injury savings is between $122 million and$505 million per year for college and between $1.3 billion and$4.9 billion per year for high school