Injury/Illness Physician Referral Profile From a Youth University-Sponsored Summer Sport Camp Program

Abstract

Participation at university-sponsored summer sport camps is popular among youth athletes; however, there is a dearth of information to describe the injuries/illnesses experienced by camp participants. Data from a university-sponsored sport camp program from 2008 to 2011 were accessed retrospectively. The sport camp program had approximately 80 camps for 28 sports over 12 weeks annually. Male and female participants were 10 to 17 years old. Athletic trainers maintained medical documentation and provided medical referrals. Referrals were made for 9.9% (n=478) of all injuries/illnesses. Emergency department referrals were made for 2.9% of injuries/illnesses. University health services received 42.5% of referrals. There were 1.1 referrals per 100 participants. Boys comprised 60.7% of referrals. Rugby had the highest referral rate--5.0 per 100 participants. These data help increase physician preparedness and guide the delivery of sports medicine services for related sport camp programs as a means to improve quality of care delivered to participants.

Injury and Illness Epidemiology at a Summer Sport-Camp Program, 2008 Through 2011

“…Additionally, 60.1% of all camper injuries in the Healthy Camp Study required off-site medical referrals and treatment. 20 When we 22 described the physician referral profile from our same sport-camp program, we found that only 9.7% of all sport-camp injuries and illnesses required medical referral. Although further research is needed to determine the reasons for the observed differences between our study and the Healthy Camp Study, the results indicate that recreational campers and sport-camp participants have different injury and illness experiences.…”

Health Supply Utilization at a Boy Scout Summer Camp: An Evaluation for Improvement and Preparedness

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] These studies, and the guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 8,12 commonly exclude adults. Several studies have focused on specialized types of camps or populations of campers (such as persons with disabilities), [13][14][15] limiting the generalizability of findings. The literature on wilderness travel is limited in applicability to summer camps, and recommendations are not generally evidencebased.…”