Self-reported injury history in native American professional rodeo competitors

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of rodeo injury and the use of protective equipment. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Indian National Finals Rodeo 2004 in San Jacinto, CA. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixty-nine native American, professional rodeo competitors. ASSESSMENT: On-site survey completed before competition. A total of 180 native American competitors received the survey. Respondents reported the event of participation, prior injury histories (including number, type and disability), use of protective equipment, and access to health care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Main outcomes were determined before survey distribution and included self-reported injury rate, time away from rodeo secondary to injury, and protective equipment usage during competition. RESULTS: Total 94% response rate. There was a range of injury history-from 100% of bull riders to only 24% of tie-down ropers-reporting a history of injuries. Forty percent of competitors reported using protective equipment; of these, 32% reported wearing vests. Twenty-six percent of the competitors had a history of injury that prevented them from working an average of 3.2 months. CONCLUSIONS: As hypothesized, a greater injury rate resulted from rough stock events; older competitors are more likely to have had work time loss from injury; and vests are the most frequently used protective equipment in rodeo.