Mortality and Morbidity From Injuries in Sports and Recreation

Injuries from nonintentional causes resulted in 102,130 deaths in the US population during 1981 (70). In this same year 70,214,976 persons required either medical attention or a day of restricted activity because of injuries from all causes (10). The known-and admittedly incomplete-impact, economic and otherwise, of these injuries included over 144 million bed days of disabil­ ity, almost 493 million days of restricted activity, and over 14 million days lost from school by children aged 6 to 16 years. Injuries and adverse effects from all causes accounted for over 8% of all office visits to physicians in 198 1 (60) and almost 5 million physician contacts per month (estimated) (18). Furthermore, in 1981 nonintentional injuries and adverse effects accounted for an estimated annual total of 2,587,140 potential years lost before age 65 (17). This figure is almost 50% greater than the number of potential years of life lost before age 65 due to malignant neoplasms or diseases of the heart , the two leading causes of death in the US. The current system for classification and coding of cause of death and morbidity does not permit a description of activities surrounding the death or injury; therefore, an accurate annual count of deaths and injuries from athletics or recreational activities in the US is not possible. For example, a person struck by a car and killed would be classified as a pedestrian fatality; there would be no way of knowing from the International Classification of Diseases rubric (i.e. E81O. 7-819.7) whether the pedestrian was struck while crossing a street on the way to work (nonrecreational), jogging on a street in a park (recreational), or running in a marathon (sport). The only remedy for this problem would be to