The increased participation of women in organized athletics has resulted in
an interest in gender-related injury patterns. Previous reports have indic
ated an increased incidence in anterior cruciate knee injuries among female
intercollegiate basketball players compared with their male counterparts.
The current epidemiologic study prospectively evaluated the relative risk o
f ankle injuries in scholastic and collegiate basketball players during a 2
-year period. Eleven thousand seven hundred eighty athletes participated in
this study, 4940 females and 6840 males. There were 1052 ankle injuries. O
verall, females had a 25% greater risk of sustaining a Grade I ankle sprain
compared with their male counterparts. This increased risk was present in
the interscholastic and intercollegiate players. There was no significant d
ifference in the risk for Grades II and III ankle sprains, ankle fractures,
or syndesmotic sprains. Male and female athletes doubled their risk for su
staining an ankle injury at the intercollegiate level compared with the int
erscholastic level.