Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the distance to a level 1 or level 2 trauma center from Native American and First Nations reservations that contain high schools and junior high schools that sponsor interscholastic sports. Methods: A list available on the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs revealed 174 public K-12 schools on reservations. A total 66 (37.9%) schools reported sponsoring interscholastic sports on their public websites. To calculate the minimal distance from each school to the closest level 1 and 2 trauma center, geographic information was uploaded on Tableau Desktop (version 2022.2, Tableau Software, LLC, Seattle, WA). Measures of central tendency including means, frequencies, and standard deviations were calculated where appropriate. Independent samples t-tests were performed to determine differences in distance to level 1 or 2 trauma centers based off geography and tribal affiliation. Significance was set at an alpha level of p < .05. Results: On average, schools on reservations were 91.6 ± 42.3 miles from the nearest level 1 or level 2 trauma center. Of all the geographic regions in the United States, the 29 reservations sponsoring interscholastic sports in the southwestern portion of the United States were significantly further away from level 1 or level 2 trauma centers than the rest of the United States (Southwestern = 107.4 ± 6.3 miles, Rest of United States = 79.1 ± 44.3 miles, p = .006). Analysis revealed that on average, schools on Navajo reservations were 35.8 (±10.5) miles further away from level 1 or level 2 trauma centers compared to schools on other tribal reservations (p < .001). Conclusions: Out of the 66 reservation schools evaluated, 59.6% of them were further than 75.1 miles. More research is needed to determine the accessibility to pediatric trauma centers, the number of sports medicine related transfers to level 1 or level 2 trauma centers from reservations, and the number sports medicine providers locally and readily available to these reservations, especially in the southwest United States. This information will provide a more complete description of the lack of access to sports medicine healthcare services for reservations and provide greater context for establishing solutions.
Recommended Citation
Trail L, Cage A, Yoshihara A. Distance to Level 1 and 2 Trauma Centers from Native American Reservations Sponsoring Interscholastic Sports. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2024 Jun 26;22(3), Article 5.
