University of Calgary Study Confirms Safety of FieldTurf

The following is a review of the 2013 study titled “Footwear Traction and Lower Extremity Non-Contact Injury” published out of the University of Calgary’s renowned Human Performance Lab. It compared footwear traction and lower extremity non-contact injuries on Artificial Turf vs. Natural Grass. The artificial turf surface used in the study was a FieldTurf “elite” system. The findings confirm the safety of FieldTurf and (like the Penn State traction study) highlights the need for athletes to wear proper footwear. A summary of the study can be downloaded here.

• No significant difference in the number of injuries was seen between the two surfaces (p=0.066). The total injury rate of both surfaces was 13.7 (95% CI=10.2-17.2) injuries per 1000 game exposures. When broken down by surface, the injury rate on artificial turf (FieldTurf) was 14.8 (95% CI=10.0-19.6) injuries per 1000 game exposures compared to 12.2 (95% CI=7.1-17.3) injuries per 1000 game exposures on natural grass.

• There was no significant difference in the number of injuries or the injury rate between the artificial turf (FieldTurf) and natural grass surfaces.

The results of the current study provide support for the notion that there are no differences in injury rates between current third generation artificial turf surfaces and natural grass on non-contact, lower extremity injuries in high school football.