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Systematic review
“What’s my risk of sustaining an ACL injury while playing sports?” A systematic review with meta-analysis
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  1. Alicia M Montalvo1,
  2. Daniel K Schneider2,3,
  3. Laura Yut4,
  4. Kate E Webster5,
  5. Bruce Beynnon6,
  6. Mininder S Kocher7,
  7. Gregory D Myer3,8,9,10
    1. 1 Department of Athletic Training, Florida International University, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Miami, Florida, USA
    2. 2 College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
    3. 3 Division of Sports Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
    4. 4 Department of Biostatistics, Robert Stempel School of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
    5. 5 School of Allied Health, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
    6. 6 Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA
    7. 7 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    8. 8 Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    9. 9 Athletic Training Division, School of Allied Medical Professions, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
    10. 10 The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
    1. Correspondence to Dr Gregory D Myer, Division of Sports Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati OH 45229, USA; greg.myer{at}cchmc.org

    Abstract

    Objective To estimate the incidence proportion (IP) and incidence rate (IR) for ACL injury in athletes.

    Design Systematic review with meta-analysis

    Data sources The PubMed, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus electronic databases were searched from inception to 20 January 2017.

    Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies were included if they reported total number of participants/population by sex, total number of ACL injuries by sex and total person-time by sex.

    Results Fifty-eight studies were included. The IP and IR of ACL injury in female athletes were 3.5% (1 out of every 29 athletes) and 1.5/10 000 athlete-exposures over a period of 1 season-25 years. The IP and IR of ACL injury in male athletes were 2.0% (1 out of every 50 athletes) and 0.9/10 000 athlete-exposures over a period of 1–25 years. Female athletes had a higher relative risk (RR) for ACL injury compared with males (RR=1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.9; P<0.01) and a higher incidence rate ratio (IRR) of ACL injury compared with males over 1 season–25 years (IRR=1.7; 95% CI 1.4 to 2.2; P<0.010). When accounting for participation level, the disparity in the IR between female and male athletes was highest for amateur athletes compared with intermediate and elite athletes (IRR=2.1; 95% CI 1.3 to 3.4; P<0.01; I²=82%). Amateur female athletes remained at higher risk of ACL injury than did with amateur male athletes. In studies where follow-up length was <1 year, female athletes had a higher IR of ACL injury than did to males (IRR=1.7; 95% CI 1.3 to 2.2; P<0.01). Where follow-up was 1 year and beyond, there was no sex difference in the IR of ACL injury (IRR=2.1; 95% CI 0.9 to 4.8; P=0.06; I²=65%).

    Summary/conclusions One in 29 female athletes and 1 in 50 male athletes ruptured their ACL in a window that spanned from 1season to 25 years. The IR of ACL injury among female athletes in a season was 1.7 times higher than the IR of ACL injury among male athletes and the IP of ACL injury among female athletes was 1.5 times higher than the IP of ACL injury among male athletes. The reported sex disparity in ACL injury rates is independent of participation level and length of follow-up.

    • ACL
    • knee
    • athlete
    • epidemiology

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-096274

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      Footnotes

      • Contributors AMM, DKS, KEW, BB, MSK, and GDM worked on concept, writing, and approving the final draft. LY worked on analysis, interpretation, writing, and approving the final draft.

      • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

      • Competing interests None declared.

      • Patient consent Not required.

      • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

      • Data sharing statement All data from this review are available from the journals in which they were published.

      • Collaborators Emir Veledar, PhD, Robert Stempel School of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

      • Correction notice This article has been corrected since it was published Online First. The ’Contributors' section has been updated.