Study Shows Female Lacrosse Players Need Protective Gear as Much as Men

Lacrosse, a hockey-like sport using curved rackets and a hard rubber ball, is growing more popular in the United States, according to U.S. Lacrosse, the sport's national organization. Men's lacrosse is high contact and requires heavy protective gear; however, women's lacrosse is a non-contact sport that requires only mouth guards and optional soft head-protection equipment. High rates of head and face injuries among women and the increasing numbers of children learning to play lacrosse -- even as young as four year of age -- is prompting another look at how much protective gear they need.

Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System who studied and compared 10 years' worth of data on lacrosse injuries among men and women, as well as among age groups, have found that more protective gear for women and children is warranted. "We wanted to see if the injury rate among the general population of lacrosse players reflected data from the National Collegiate Athletic Administration, which is showing high rates of injury to the head and face among collegiate women lacrosse players," said Dr. Paul Diamond, principal investigator for the study and associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at U.Va.

Diamond and his research team used data on 1,727 cases of lacrosse-related traumatic injury from three electronic databases maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Injury Information Clearinghouse. Subjects' ages ranged from four to 59 years of age, with most between ages 12 and 17. Males accounted for 80.5 percent of cases.

The U.Va. study's findings, published in the June issue of the journal Brain Injury, showed that injuries to the head and face were significantly more prevalent among females (30.1 percent of all injuries) than among males (18 percent of all injuries), and often resulted from contact with the ball.

Children ages four to 11 years old experienced the highest percent of injuries to the head and face of all lacrosse players. "Although the 'non-contact' nature of the women's game may mean fewer injuries resulting from contact with other players, the risk of serious injury from ball and stick contact is still high for women," Diamond said. "Use of protective head and face gear should be encouraged for them and for children."