Skateboarding Is Safe,
But It Could Be Safer
Excerpt By Dana Frisch, Reuter's Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study of injury rates shows that skateboarding is a "comparatively safe sport," but the authors urge efforts to make it even safer.

Dr. Flaura Winston, study co-author and director of TraumaLink at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, found that in 1998, there were 8.9 injuries involving trips to the emergency room per 1,000 skateboarders, about twice the injury rate associated with in-line skating but half that of basketball.

The study, over a 12-year period ending in 1999, also found that as participation in the sport rose, the rate of skateboarding-associated injuries increased from 1993 after a six-year decline. The findings are published in the October issue of the Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care.

"What has happened recently with the X-games (extreme games) and a lot of the skateboarding videos that the kids are playing games with, is that what is being promoted is unsafe skateboarding," Winston said. "So a relatively safe sport is becoming a relatively unsafe sport as time goes on."

In 2001, 9.6 million Americans above age 7 skateboarded, according to the National Sporting Goods Association Survey. This resulted in about 104,000 injuries treated in hospital emergency departments, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System shows.

Winston used data from these two surveys in her analysis, the first to estimate injury rates for skateboarding based on participation.

Another finding from the study was that while most injuries involving emergency room visits were fractures to the arms and legs, about 5% were injuries to the brain.

"I think there is a perception that skateboarding injuries are uniformly minor but the fact is that a good chunk of kids are getting brain injuries," Winston told Reuters Health. "As a pediatrician, I worry about this the most because the brain is the organ least likely to recover."

To prevent injury, Winston said, kids should avoid skating in the street and go to skateboarding parks whenever possible. Her study found injuries requiring hospitalization were 11.4 times more likely to have occurred because of a collision with a motor vehicle, compared to injuries for which a person was treated and released without being admitted to the hospital.

Other recommendations include wearing safety gear like helmets and wrist guards, and supervising skateboarders younger than 10 years old. Children under 5 should not be skateboarding, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. "They just don't have the dexterity to do it," said Winston.

In many skateboarding parks, Winston noted, skateboarders must wear safety gear and go through training to learn how to fall to reduce both the severity and incidence of injuries.

Also, California is looking into legislation requiring the use of helmets when skateboarding, and there are talks of regulating skateboarding parks, because at present there are no uniform requirements, she added.

"Skateboarding is here to stay," Winston said. "Adolescents love the sport. It is fun and can be relatively safe...but it can be more safe and some of the trends I'm seeing are worrisome."

SOURCE: Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care 2002;53:686-690.

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