What is the economic burden of sports injuries?
Selcen Öztürk, Dilek Kılıç
Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Keywords: Cost b enefit a nalysis; e conomics o f s port; h ealth economics; sport injuries; sport medicine.
Abstract
Despite the health benefits of sports activities, sports injury and fear of injury are important barriers to participation in sport. The incidence, prevalence and type of sports injuries vary among men and women as well as age groups. It is usually difficult to examine these different aspects of sports injuries due to insufficient data. This study argues that sport injuries can be considered as an important economic burden in terms of the direct and indirect costs it bears. As a result, strong and effective strategies are needed to prevent sports injuries. Sports medicine has also been attracted increasing attention in recent years, particularly. In this article, the importance of sports injuries and their economic costs as well as the role of sport medicine as a prevention method for sports injuries were discussed.