Comparison of Children and Youth Taekwondo Injuries Via Sport Medicine Federation Injury Surveillance System in Iran, 2009-2010

The present study purposed to compare the sport injuries of child and youth taekwondo athletes via the data of Sport Medicine Federation Injury Surveillance System of Iran in 2009 and 2010. A retrospective analysis was conducted of the data for children and youth taekwondo athletes presented to the injury surveillance system in two years. Mann-Whitney U test was used with the significance level of p < 0.05. In two years of 2009-2010, from 2026 injured children and youth athletes, 2258 injuries were reported. There was a significant difference between children and youth injuries (p = 0.002). Boys’ and girls’ (p = 0.012), and men's and women's (p = 0.001) injuries were significantly different. Children, especially boys (49.3%), incurred most of injuries in upper extremity. Wrist in children and knee in youth were the most common body parts injured. As a result, youth sustained significantly more injuries than children. Level of activity, more intense training and competition and increased body weight and strength in youth may make them more susceptible to injury relative to chi ldren. In conclusion, upper extremity in children and lower extremity in youth need to be in priority of preventive measures.