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This prospective study was to describe the incidence and characteristics of physical activity-related injuries (PARI) among college students in southern China. Online questionnaires and telephone interviews were combined to investigate the physical activity (PA) participation and PARI occurrences every two weeks. Totally, 84 college students (men: 49; women: 35) with a mean age of 19.4 years completed the entire 1-year follow-up. Overall, 14250.3 PA exposure hours were collected and 36 PARI episodes were reported by 26 students, with an injury incidence density of 2.53 injuries per 1000 PA exposure hours and an injury risk of 0.43 injuries/student/year. July to September accounted for a highest proportion of injuries and half of the injuries happened in the evening. The majority of injuries occurred outdoors, happened in non-contact activities, were acute and involved the lower limbs, with sprains and strains being the primary injury types. Of all injuries, 80.6% resulted in PA withdrawal immediately and 58.3% led to absence from the next planned PA. No significant difference was found between men and women. This study reveals the problem of PARI among college students, which provides the direction for the prevention of PARI in this population.

This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the characteristics of physical activity-related injury (PARI) and to explore its associated factors among university students in Chaoshan district. Selected from the baseline survey in March and April, 434 students graded 1–3 from two universities were interviewed face-to-face in April and May 2017. Socio-demographics, physical activity (PA) participation, risk-taking behaviors, and PARI occurrences in the past 12 months were collected. Group Lasso logistic regression was applied to identify the risk factors of PARI. Totally, 317 PARI episodes were reported by 184 subjects with an overall injury risk of 0.73 injuries/student/year (males: 1.00, females: 0.63) and an injury incidence density of 0.81 injuries per 1000 PA exposure hours (males: 1.13, females: 0.69). Most injuries involved the lower extremities and were sprains and strains. Males, sports team members, and those with high-risk rebellious and anti-social behaviors were more likely to sustain PARI compared to their counterparts. Those who participated in vigorous-intensity PA with longer duration (particularly ≥ 150 min/week) were at a higher risk for PARI. This study indicates that PARI is a health concern among university students and great efforts should be taken to prevent them from PARI when promoting a physically active lifestyle.

Physical activity (PA) promotion is beneficial to gain and maintain optimal health, but might increase risks for physical activity-related injury (PARI). This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the incidence rate and identify risk factors of PARI among Chinese middle school students. Selected via the method of cluster random sampling, students graded 7&ndash, 8 (junior) and 10&ndash, 11 (senior) from five middle schools (aged from 10 to 18 years old) in Shantou were invited to participate in the survey. Information on socio-demography, PA involvement, sleep duration, individual safety awareness and exercise behavior, and PARI experiences in the past 12 month was collected. Multivariate logistic regression model was performed to estimate the risk factors of PARI. A total of 3082 participants completed the valid questionnaires, with an overall incidence rate of 25.1%. Boys, junior school students, sports team members, and those with lower safety awareness, living with single parent, and without any chronic conditions were at higher risks for PARI. Moreover, exercising on wet floor or with illness frequently would also be more likely to experience injury, especially those with at least 120 min per day. In conclusion, PARI was prevalent among middle school students in southern China. The above data provide insights that were focused and effective actions should be taken to prevent school-aged adolescents from PARI and maximize the benefits of PA.

This cross-sectional study was carried out to explore the potential risk factors of physical activity-related injuries (PARI) among middle-school students of different genders. Selected by the random cluster sampling method, students aged from 12 to 16 years old in grades 7&ndash, 8 from six middle schools in Shantou, southern China, were recruited for this investigation in November 2017. Information about socio-demographics, physical activity (PA) exposure time, individual exercise behaviors, risk-taking behaviors, and PARI experiences in the past 12 months was collected. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to explore the risk factors of PARI. A total of 1270 students completed valid questionnaires, with an overall injury incidence of 33.6% (boys: 42.0%, girls: 25.0%), an injury risk of 0.68 injuries/student/year, and an injury rate of 1.43 injuries per 1000 PA exposure hours. For boys, living in a school dormitory, participating in sports teams, exercising on a wet floor, rebellious behavior, and having longer PA exposure time were the risk factors of PARI. For girls, those who were sports team members, whose parents were divorced or separated, and those with longer PA exposure time were more vulnerable to suffer from PARI. In conclusion, PARI was a health problem among middle school students in southern China. Boys and girls differed in PARI occurrence and were affected by different risk factors, which provides a basis for targeted gender-specific intervention programs to reduce the occurrence of PARI among middle-school students.