Evaluation of the use of braces to prevent injury to the knee in collegiate football players.

Data were collected in 1984 from seventy-one schools that were members of Division I of the National College Athletic Association and in 1985 from sixty-one of these schools to assess whether the use of so-called preventive braces for the knee was associated with a decrease in either the severity or the incidence (or both) of injuries to the knee in collegiate football players. Over-all, players who wore braces on the knees had significantly more injuries to the knee than players who did not. The severity of the injuries was no different in the two groups. Based on these findings, we cannot recommend the use of these braces in an attempt to prevent injury to collegiate football players.