Body Composition and Injury Prevalence in Mexican University Athletes

The epidemiology of injuries and their relationship with body composition is a crucial aspect for sports medicine teams to analyze, as it enables the organization of actions for injury prevention during the competitive season. This study aimed to compare body composition with injury prevalence among injured and non-injured university athletes, categorized by sex and sport. Sports injuries and anthropometric characteristics were analyzed in 771 competitive-level athletes (374 women and 397 men) from university teams in Mexico. Body composition was assessed using anthropometry, and injury classification and prevalence were determined by a sports medicine team. Injury prevalence was 65.6 %, with the highest prevalence observed in cheerleading (9.2 %), athletics (8.8 %), and taekwondo (8.7 %). No associations were found between sex and injury occurrence (χ² = 0.04, df = 1, p = 0.825), nor were there differences in injury rates between sports (χ² = 11.45, df = 11, p = 0.406). No relationships between body composition and injuries were identified, suggesting that other unmeasured factors in this study may have a greater influence on injury occurrence. It is concluded that injury prevalence is high in this group of athletes and that body composition and sex do not influence the occurrence of injuries. This study is significant as it motivates university sports medicine teams to consider other variables influencing injury occurrence.