Abstract
Heat Illness Among High School Athletes—United States, 2005–2009
(MMWR Surveill Summ. 2010;59:1009–1013) Centers for Disease Control
Prepared by Anil Menon, MD, UTMB/NASA Aerospace Medicine Fellow, Galveston, TX, USA
This CDC report cited heat illness as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among high school athletes. The National High School Sports-related Injury Survey polled 100 schools from 2005 to 2009 and analyzed 118 heat-related illnesses. Sports included football, wrestling, soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, and softball. Reportable events occurred only during school sponsored games or practices of these sports and required a medical assessment and more than 1 day of lost activity. Athletic trainers primarily reported cases and included age, height, weight, setting of injury, diagnosis, and the number of hours lost to injury.
An incidence rate of 1.6 heat-related illnesses per 100000 exposures was reported where an exposure was defined by a practice or game for 1 athlete. Football had an incidence rate of 4.5 per 100000 exposures, which was 10 times higher than the other sports. Of those football players who reported heat illness, 65% were obese or overweight. Since 1995 there have been 31 deaths in high school football players. Most reports occurred during August. Given this survey design, this study may underestimate heat illness among high school athletes. However, the authors suggest that it does target a population for prevention—including wet bulb globe temperature, acclimatization, education, and monitoring.