Oro-facial trauma in amateur secondary school footballers in Ibadan, Nigerian: a study of mouthguards.

Abstract

To assess the awareness and frequency of use of mouth-guards for football among secondary school children in Ibadan, Nigeria, as well as the amount of oro-facial trauma previously associated with football game in these adolescents, a questionnaire - based cross-sectional study was conducted. Six hundred and thirty -one amateur footballers - 465 (73.7%) males and 166 (26.3%) females in the age range of 10 - 19 years (mean age, 15.01 +/- 2.86SD) completed the questionnaire giving a response rate of 90.1%. Majority (58.8%) of the subjects was within the 10-15 years age group. Awareness of mouth-guards was claimed by 69.7% of the respondents but significantly more of them who made the claim were not using the protective device for football games (p<0.05). More boys significantly claimed the usage of mouth-guards than girls (p<0.05). In all, 59.7% agreed that wearing mouth-guard was helpful in oro-facial injury prevention during sports with significantly more boys in agreement than girls (p<0.05). About 36% of the subjects sustained one form of oro-facial trauma or the other with significant sex difference (p<0.05). Secondary schools should serve as good starting points in the campaign for use of mouth-guards for contact sports before some go into professional sports.

• Authors: C O Onyeaso
• Journal: Odonto-stomatologie tropicale = Tropical dental journal (Odontostomatol Trop) Vol. 27 Issue 105 Pg. 32-6 (Mar 2004) ISSN: 0251-172X [Print] Senegal
• PMID: 15281300 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adolescent
• Athletic Injuries (prevention & control)
• Child
• Female
• Football (injuries)
• Humans
• Male
• Mouth Protectors (statistics & numerical data)
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Tooth Injuries (prevention & control)