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Background: Epidemiological studies of lateral ankle sprains in NCAA sports are important in appraising the burden of this injury and informing prevention efforts. Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of lateral ankle sprains in NCAA sports during the 2014-15 through 2018-19 seasons. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Injury and exposure information collected within the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) were examined. Counts, rates, and proportions of lateral ankle sprains were used to describe injury incidence by sport, event type (practices, competitions), season segment (preseason, regular season, postseason), injury mechanism (player contact, noncontact, and surface contact, injury history (new, recurrent), and time loss (time loss [≥1 day], non–time loss). Injury rate ratios (IRRs) were used to examine differential injury rates, and injury proportion ratios (IPRs) were used to examine differential distributions. Results: A total of 3910 lateral ankle sprains were reported (4.61 per 10,000 athlete exposures) during the study period, and the overall rate was highest in men’s basketball (11.82 per 10,000 athlete exposures). The competition-related injury rate was higher than the practice-related rate (IRR, 3.24; 95% CI, 3.04-3.45), and across season segments, the overall rate was highest in preseason (4.99 per 10,000 athlete exposures). Lateral ankle sprains were most often attributed to player-contact mechanisms in men’s (43.2%) and women’s sports (35.1%), although injuries were more prevalently attributed to player contact in men’s than in women’s sports (IPR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.13-1.34). Overall, 49.7% of all lateral ankle sprains were time loss injuries. Conclusions: The findings of this study are consistent with previous epidemiological investigations of lateral ankle sprains among NCAA athletes. Results offer additional context on differential injury mechanisms between men’s and women’s sports and on injury risk across the competitive season. Future research may examine the effectiveness of deploying injury prevention programs before the start of a season.

Peak aerobic capacity declines with age concomitant with greater fatigability and slower gait speed. We explored these relationships with cross-sectional SOMMA data (N=422, age=76.7±5.1, 57.4% women, gait speed= 0.97±0.18 m/s from a 4m walk). Participants completed a treadmill peak oxygen consumption test (VO2peak) and the self-administered Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS, range: 0-50; higher=greater fatigability). Mean VO2peak was 19.4±4.2 ml/kg/min, PFS Physical score was 16.9±8.5 points, and PFS Mental score was 8.1±8.2 points. Pearson correlations between VO2peak and PFS Physical and Mental scores were r=-0.36 and r=-0.23, respectively. For every one standard deviation higher VO2peak, PFS Physical and Mental scores were lower by 2.07 points (CI: -3.00, -1.13) and 1.10 points (CI: -2.07, -0.17), respectively, when adjusted for clinic site, age, race, sex, and self-reported physical activity. Future SOMMA analyses will evaluate a likely bidirectional association between VO2peak and fatigability, as well as examine their potential mediating effects on physical function.

Purpose Participant engagement in an online physical activity (PA) intervention is described and baseline factors related to engagement are identified. Design Longitudinal Study Within Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting Online/Internet. Sample Primary care patients (21-70 years). Intervention ActiveGOALS was a 3-month, self-directed online PA intervention (15 total lessons, remote coaching support, and a body-worn step-counter). Measures Engagement was measured across six outcomes related to lesson completion (total number and time to complete), coach contact, and behavior tracking (PA, sedentary). Self-reported baseline factors were examined from seven domains (confidence, environment, health, health care, demographic, lifestyle, and quality of life). Analysis General linear and nonlinear mixed models were used to examine relationships between baseline factors and engagement outcomes within and across all domains. Results Seventy-nine participants were included in the sample (77.2% female; 74.7% white non-Hispanic). Program engagement was high (58.2% completed all lessons; PA was tracked ≥3 times/week for 11.3 ± 4.0 weeks on average). Average time between completed lessons (days) was longer than expected and participants only contacted their coach about 1 of every 3 weeks. Individual predictors related to health, health care, demographics, lifestyle, and quality of life were significantly related to engagement. Conclusion Examining multiple aspects of engagement and a large number of potential predictors of engagement is likely needed to determine facilitators and barriers for high engagement in multi-faceted online intervention programs.