Abstract

In Japan, there is a mutual aid organisation participated in by nearly all children from kindergarten to high school that compensates for damage inflicted under school supervision. In this study, individual cases of damage at high schools in Kyoto Prefecture compensated for by this system in 2007 were reviewed to evaluate measures to reduce injuries under school supervision at high schools. Two thousand seven hundred and forty-nine injuries except those caused by traffic accidents reported by 47 high schools in Kyoto Prefecture in 2007 were analysed. Injuries occurred (1) 1.6 times more frequently in males than in females, (2) more frequently in children of lower grades and (3) about 90% of them occurred during exercise or sports (60% during extracurricular activities, 20% during gym classes and 10% at other times). (4) About half the injuries involved the lower limbs, (5) sprain and fracture each accounted for about 20% of the injuries, (6) About 30% of the injuries were mild, requiring less than 2 weeks until cure, but 38 injuries required 3 months or longer until cure. (7) A high percentages of the injuries that occurred during extracurricular activities were related to ball games and (8) were caused by overwork or accidents. From these data, improvements in the contents and environment of exercise and sports, during which about 90% of all injuries occurred, are considered necessary to reduce injuries under school supervision at high school. Particularly, measures to prevent injuries during extracurricular activities should be evaluated.