Cheerleading (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports Protective Equipment & Gear · CPSC Code 3254
Down 34% over 5 years
The verdict
Cheerleading (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 36/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 30,539 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 34% over the last five years.
- 36/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 30,539
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 1.3%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 3254 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 36/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume30,539 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)1.3%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-34%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Cheerleading (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 3254, in the Sports Protective Equipment & Gear category) generate an estimated 30,539 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 610,788 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 36/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 34% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2015 (40,843 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (10,672 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 60,493 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (50,307 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 305,260 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 1.3% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 277 | 1,067 | |
| 5-14 | 3,363 | 301,897 | |
| 15-24 | 10,582 | 286,202 | |
| 25-34 | 706 | 3,525 | |
| 35-44 | 15 | 2,019 | |
| 45-54 | 75 | 624 | |
| 55-64 | 68 | 252 | |
| 65-74 | 0 | 15 | |
| 75+ | 0 | 100 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Neck | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Lower Arm | Fracture | |
| Finger | Fracture |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
14 YOF INJ HEAD CHEER PRACTICE DOING STUNT ON SOMEONE'S SHOULDERS LOST BALANCE FELL BACK ONTO MAT AT SCHOOL DX MINOR CLOSED HEAD INJ ;
10 YOF RT WRIST PAIN X 2 WEEKS THAT STARTED AFTER CHEERLEADING PRACTICE. DX: RT WRIST PAIN
16 YOF WAS AT CHEER PRACTICE TODAY WHEN SHE FELL AND HIT HER HEAD ~ 1650 TODAY. SHE WAS BEING TOSSED IN THE AIR AND WAS ABOUT 10 FEET HIGH. HER FEET WERE CAUGHT BUT NOT HER HEAD AND THE BACK OF HER HEAD NECK AND BACK HIT THE GROUND. DX CLOSED HEAD INJURY WITH BRIEF LOC
17YOM WAS THE BASE OF CHEERLEADING DX: INJURY TO NOSE
14 YOF C/O ANKLE PAIN AFTER DOING CHEER PRACTICE DX MILD ANKLE SPRAIN
13YOF TO ER FOR HEAD INJURY THAT OCCURED AT CHEER PRACTICE, PT WAS SPOTTER IN BACK & GIRL FELL ON TOP OF PT WHO HIT HER HEAD ONN THE MAT, NO LOC, PT SAYS SAW STARS & WAS OUT OF IT FOR FEW MINS DX INJURY OF HEAD
14YOF WAS AT CHEERLEADING PRACTICE WHEN ANOTHER STUDENT STRUCK HER IN THE HEAD ACCIDENTALLY DX CONCUSSION STRAINED NECK
16YOF HAD A FALL AT CHEERLEADING PRACTICE DX STRAINED LOWER BACK
15YOF WAS AT CHEERLEADING & DID BACK HANDSPRING & FELT CRACK IN HER ELBOW, PT SAYS HURTS TO MOVE ARM DX FALL, CLSD DISLOCATION OF LEFT ELBOW
15YOF INJURED KNEE & ANKLE WHILE CHEERLEADING. DX: KNEE PAIN, ANKLE PAIN
16YOF SYNCOPE & FELL DURING CHEERLEADING PRACTICE. INJURY & BODY PT N.S. DX: SYNCOPE
16YOF, COMPLAINS OF CALF PAIN AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH THAT STARTED DURING CHEERLEADING PRACTICE, DX: SHORTNESS OF BREATH
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 36/100 (low risk). An estimated 30,539 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 60,493 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 34% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 305,260 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 1.3% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (98.7%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with cheerleading (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports Protective Equipment & Gear
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 36/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
