Sports-related dentofacial trauma among high school students in Nairobi

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and pattern of occurrence of sports - related dentofacial injuries among athletes participating in Rugby and Football in Nairobi, Kenya.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Setting: Seventeen Secondary schools participating in either or both Rugby tournaments and the Nairobi Football League during the 2015 season in Nairobi.

Subjects: Five hundred and ten male high school students aged 14 to 18 years.

Results: Among the 510 participants in the two sports, 281 (55.1%) had reported having experienced dentofacial injuries. Participants playing both sports had a significantly higher prevalence of dentofacial injuries 24 (66.7%)in comparison to those who participated in rugby 138 (54.3%)and football with 119 (54.1%)(p = 0.02). The most commonly reported injury involved the soft tissue at 68.3%, teeth at 19.5%, a combination of the hard and soft tissues at 8.1% and bone fractures at 3.9%. Regarding the phase of play during which the injuries were sustained, collision accounted for 26.2% followed by tackling (19.7%), having been tackled (18.0%) while lineout (1.17%) was the least cause of dentofacial injury. Of the 281 of the injured respondents, 153 (54.4%) had received first aid treatment with 72 (47.1%) having received treatment on the pitch side. One hundred and eighty three (35.9%) of all the participants reported having had some form of medical insurance while 227 (44.5%) did not have any.

Conclusion: More than half of the participants had experienced dentofacial injuries with those of the soft tissue having been the most commonly reported. About a third of the injuries encountered were sustained during collision of players.