Self-reported experience of orofacial injury, preventive practice, and knowledge of Iranian adolescent martial art athletes towards sports-related orofacial injuries

BACKGROUND: Increased engagement of adolescents in martial arts exposes them to a relatively high risk of experiencing orofacial injuries. We evaluated self-reported experience of orofacial injuries, preventive practice, and knowledge of management of sport-related orofacial injuries and related factors in adolescent Karate and Taekwondo athletes in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on Iranian martial arts athletes including Karate and Taekwondo aged 11–17-year-old in 2020 via an online questionnaire. The anonymous self-administrated questionnaire had four parts: background (age, gender, duration of sports activity, training sessions per week, and previous education on orofacial injury); self-reported experience of orofacial injury; preventive practice including mouthguard and helmet use; and knowledge of emergency management of orofacial injuries. Preventive practice and knowledge scores were calculated by summing up the scores of corresponding questions (possibly range 0–7). A linear regression model and the Pearson correlation served for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Totally, 295 athletes with a mean age of 14.56 ± 1.91 years participated in the study. A quarter (n = 74, 25.1%) of athletes stated that they had received training on prevention of orofacial injuries. Only 3.7% (n = 11) of the participants reported the use of custom-made mouthguards, and 62% (n = 183) reported a positive history of orofacial injuries. A significant relationship existed between self-reported orofacial injury and age (β = − 0.32, p < 0.001), hours of training per week (β = 0.12, p = 0.037), type of sport (β = 0.11, p = 0.049), and previous training on orofacial injuries (β = − 0.14, p = 0.010). No difference existed in the history of orofacial injury between females (n = 114) and males (n = 69) (p = 0.374). The mean score of self-reported preventive practice and knowledge of management of orofacial injuries was 3.53 ± 1.82 (out of 7) and 1.67 ± 1.10 (out of 7), respectively. Age (β = 0.19, p = 0.002) and history of orofacial injury (β = − 0.15, p = 0.010) were associated with the score of self-reported preventive practice. Female athletes (β = 0.11, p = 0.048) and athletes who exercised more per week (β = 0.15, p = 0.012) had significantly more knowledge on management of orofacial injuries. CONCLUSION: Adolescent athletes had relatively undesirable preventive practices and a distinct lack of knowledge. The high occurrence of self-reported orofacial injuries indicates the importance of more education and stricter rules for the athlete population.