Characterising ocular injuries in competitive combat sports in Texas: a retrospective case-control study.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to determine the incidence and impact of ocular injuries among the different combat sports disciplines of boxing, mixed martial arts (MMA), kickboxing and Muay Thai in Texas, USA.

DESIGN

A case-control study was conducted to analyse retrospective postmatch physical reports from combat sports matches that took place in the state of Texas from January 2019 to January 2022. Ocular injuries and other match characteristics such as sport type and match outcome were identified by postmatch physical reports. Postmatch physical reports were collected from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation database. Statistical analysis was used to stratify injuries and compare the impact of injuries on match outcome.

SETTING

Combat sports fighters in Texas, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

3070 participants were included in the study. Participants were fighters who participated in combat sports matches in Texas, USA, between January 2019 and January 2022.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The original plan was to measure the incidence of ocular injuries across different combat sports including boxing, MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai. However, due to a limited sample size of kickboxing and Muay Thai matches, the ocular injury incidence was only measured for boxing and MMA. The association between ocular injury and match outcome was assessed using χ2 statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The respective incidence rates of ocular injuries in boxing and MMA were 9.7 and 12.2 injuries per 100 matches. The association between ocular injury and match outcome (win, lose or draw) was statistically significant in boxing but not statistically significant in MMA matches.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings revealed that ocular injuries are significantly associated to losing a boxing match (p=0.011), but not associated to match outcome in MMA (p=0.232). Additionally, MMA matches report a larger variety of ocular injuries compared with boxing matches.