Trend in sports injuries among young people in Finland.

The main purpose of this study was to explore how the number of home, sports, and other leisure time injuries among young people aged 15 - 25 years has developed in Finland in 1988 - 2003. In 1988, 2559 people aged 15 - 25 years were interviewed by Statistics Finland. In 1993, 1997 and 2003 those amounts were 751, 1638 and 1382. The subjects were asked in a telephone interview to report the injuries in which they had been involved during the previous 12 months. The crude injury incidence in 2003 was 364 per 1000 person years in men and 246 in women. The total number of injuries increased 49 % between the years 1988 and 2003. The number of sports injuries increased the most. The increase was greater among men than women, and the injury rate was higher among both men and women aged 15 - 19 years than those aged 20 - 25 years. More research is needed on whether and how exercise and time at home have changed and become riskier among young people. It is also essential to find out which prevention methods are the most effective among young people and implement these measures in a well-planned and targeted manner.