Investigation of COVID-19 Susceptibility Between Student-Athlete and Non-Student Athlete Groups
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
PURPOSE: COVID-19 created a unique situation for students at institutions of higher education (IHEs) during the 2020/2021 academic year. Several IHEs, including Grand Valley State University (GVSU), permitted their student-athletes to participate in practices and competitions at this time. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether varsity student-athletes at GVSU had a difference in risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes. SUBJECTS: The study population consisted of 23,350 students who were enrolled at GVSU during the 2020/2021 academic year. METHODS AND MATERIALS: GVSU’s Virus Action Team provided aggregate COVID-19 data about each varsity athletic team and non-varsity athletes. The information included group size, number of on-campus COVID-19 tests administered, and number of positive COVID-19 tests for each group. Varsity athletic teams were categorized as being at high or low/intermediate risk of contracting COVID-19. ANALYSES: Differences in COVID-19 incidence between the study groups were analyzed via risk ratios. RESULTS: All varsity student-athletes, varsity student-athletes in low/intermediate risk sports, and varsity student-athletes in high transmission risk sports had 2.24, 95% CI [1.46, 2.90], 2.92, 95% CI [2.05, 4.16], and 1.07, 95% CI [0.45,2.56] times greater risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study show that varsity student-athletes at GVSU have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes. Additional work is needed to compare COVID-19 incidence between varsity student-athletes and non-varsity athletes at IHEs with different demographic characteristics.
Investigation of COVID-19 Susceptibility Between Student-Athlete and Non-Student Athlete Groups
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
PURPOSE: COVID-19 created a unique situation for students at institutions of higher education (IHEs) during the 2020/2021 academic year. Several IHEs, including Grand Valley State University (GVSU), permitted their student-athletes to participate in practices and competitions at this time. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether varsity student-athletes at GVSU had a difference in risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes. SUBJECTS: The study population consisted of 23,350 students who were enrolled at GVSU during the 2020/2021 academic year. METHODS AND MATERIALS: GVSU’s Virus Action Team provided aggregate COVID-19 data about each varsity athletic team and non-varsity athletes. The information included group size, number of on-campus COVID-19 tests administered, and number of positive COVID-19 tests for each group. Varsity athletic teams were categorized as being at high or low/intermediate risk of contracting COVID-19. ANALYSES: Differences in COVID-19 incidence between the study groups were analyzed via risk ratios. RESULTS: All varsity student-athletes, varsity student-athletes in low/intermediate risk sports, and varsity student-athletes in high transmission risk sports had 2.24, 95% CI [1.46, 2.90], 2.92, 95% CI [2.05, 4.16], and 1.07, 95% CI [0.45,2.56] times greater risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study show that varsity student-athletes at GVSU have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to non-varsity athletes. Additional work is needed to compare COVID-19 incidence between varsity student-athletes and non-varsity athletes at IHEs with different demographic characteristics.