A 2-year prospective study of injury epidemiology in elite Australian rugby sevens : Exploration of incidence rates, severity, injury type, and subsequent injury in men and women
- Authors: Toohey, Liam , Drew, Michael , Finch, Caroline , Cook, Jill , Fortington, Lauren
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: American Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 47, no. 6 (2019), p. 1302-1311
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- Description: Background: Injuries are common in rugby sevens, but studies to date have been limited to short, noncontinuous periods and reporting of match injuries only. Purpose: To report the injury incidence rate (IIR), severity, and burden of injuries sustained by men and women in the Australian rugby sevens program and to provide the first longitudinal investigation of subsequent injury occurrence in rugby sevens looking beyond tournament injuries only. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Ninety international rugby sevens players (55 men and 35 women) were prospectively followed over 2 consecutive seasons (2015-2016 and 2016-2017). All medical attention injuries were reported irrespective of time loss. Individual exposure in terms of minutes, distance, and high-speed distance was captured for each player for matches and on-field training, with the use of global positioning system devices. The IIR and injury burden (IIR × days lost to injury) were calculated per 1000 player-hours, and descriptive analyses were performed. Results: Seventy-three players (81.1%) sustained 365 injuries at an IIR of 43.2 per 1000 player-hours (95% CI, 43.0-43.3). As compared with male players, female players experienced a lower IIR (incidence rate ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.90-0.91). Female players also sustained a higher proportion of injuries to the trunk region (relative risk, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.28-2.40) but a lower number to the head/neck region (relative risk, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37-0.93; P =.011). The majority (80.7%) of subsequent injuries were of a different site and nature than previous injuries. A trend toward a reduced number of days, participation time, distance, and high-speed distance completed before the next injury was observed after successive injury occurrence. Conclusion: Female players have a lower IIR than male players, with variation of injury profiles observed between sexes. With a surveillance period of 2 years, subsequent injuries account for the majority of injuries sustained in rugby sevens, and they are typically different from previous types of sustained injuries. After each successive injury, the risk profile for future injury occurrence appears to be altered, which warrants further investigation to inform injury prevention strategies in rugby sevens.
Match injuries in Sri Lankan junior cricket : A prospective, longitudinal study
- Authors: Gamage, Prasanna , Fortington, Lauren , Kountouris, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 22, no. 6 (2019), p. 647-652
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- Description: Objectives: Understanding the nature of injuries in cricket is key to mitigate injury risks and prioritise preventive measures. This study aimed to identify the incidence and nature of match injuries among Sri Lankan junior cricketers. Design: Longitudinal follow-up study with prospective in-season data collection. Methods: A national survey of schoolboy, division-1 cricket teams in under-15 and under-17 age groups. Using a paper-based questionnaire, distributed to school-teams at the start of the 2016 cricket season, respondents recorded any injuries, including the site, type and mechanism. Match injury incidence rates (match-IIR) (injuries/100 match-player-days) were calculated overall, by position and for match time loss (MTL) and non-MTL injuries. Results: From 59 school-teams, 573 players responded, with 404 players reporting 744 injuries in 648 matches. The match-IIR was 28.0 injuries/100 match-player-days (95% CI = 26.0–30.2). The highest match-IIR was reported among fielders (46.0% of all injuries sustained; match-IIR = 12.9) compared with batters (25.4%; match-IIR = 7.1) and bowlers (20.3%; match-IIR = 5.7). Abrasions and bruises to the knee or elbow were the most common injuries among fielders, with the majority being non-MTL injuries. Conclusions: Almost half (46.0%) of all injuries were to fielders, and more research into their severity and mechanisms is needed to identify the need for, and design of, preventive measures. Batters sustained a relatively large number of facial-organ injuries from being struck by the ball, presenting a need to evaluate the use and appropriateness of helmets by Sri Lankan junior cricketers. Similar to other junior cricket studies, the most common injuries among bowlers were strains and sprains, mainly affecting the lower limbs and lower back. © 2018
Injury surveillance in community sport : Can we obtain valid data from sports trainers?
- Authors: Ekegren, Christina , Gabbe, Belinda , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports Vol. 25, no. 3 (2015), p. 315-322
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
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- Description: A lack of available injury data on community sports participants has hampered the development of informed preventive strategies for the broad-base of sports participation. In community sports settings, sports trainers or first-aiders are well-placed to carry out injury surveillance, but few studies have evaluated their ability to do so. The aim of this study was to investigate the reporting rate and completeness of sports trainers' injury records and agreement between sports trainers' and players' reports of injury in community Australian football. Throughout the football season, one sports trainer from each of four clubs recorded players' injuries. To validate these data, we collected self-reported injury data from players via short message service (SMS). In total, 210 discrete injuries were recorded for 139 players, 21% by sports trainers only, 59% by players via SMS only, and 21% by both. Completeness of injury records ranged from 95% to 100%. Agreement between sports trainers and players ranged from K=0.32 (95% confidence interval: 0.27, 0.37) for date of return to football to K=1.00 for activity when injured. Injury data collected by sports trainers may be of adequate quality for providing an understanding of the profile of injuries. However, data are likely to underestimate injury rates and should be interpreted with caution. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Injuries in community-level Australian football : Results from a club-based injury surveillance system
- Authors: Ekegren, Christina , Gabbe, Belinda , Donaldson, Alex , Cook, Jill , Lloyd, David , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 18, no. 6 (2014), p.651-655
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565907
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objectives: Far fewer injury surveillance systems exist within community sport than elite sport. As a result, most epidemiological data on sports injuries have limited relevance to community-level sporting populations. There is potential for data from community club-based injury surveillance systems to provide a better understanding of community sports injuries. This study aimed to describe the incidence and profile of community-level Australian football injuries reported using a club-based injury surveillance system. Design: Prospective, epidemiological study. Methods: Sports trainers from five community-level Australian football leagues recorded injury data during two football seasons using the club-based system. An online surveillance tool developed by Sports Medicine Australia ('Sports Injury Tracker') was used for data collection. The injury incidence, profile and match injury rate were reported. Results: Injury data for 1205 players were recorded in season one and for 823 players in season two. There was significant variability in injury incidence across clubs. However, aggregated data were consistent across football seasons, with an average of 0.7 injuries per player per season and 38-39 match injuries per 1000. h match exposure. A large proportion of injuries occurred during matches, involved the lower limb and resulted from contact. Conclusions: Data from the club-based system provided a profile of injuries consistent with previous studies in community-level Australian football. Moreover, injury incidence was consistent with other studies using similar personnel to record data. However, injury incidence was lower than that reported in studies using player self-report or healthcare professionals and may be an underestimate of true values.
Priorities for investment in injury prevention in community Australian football
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Gabbe, Belinda , White, Peta , Lloyd, David , Twomey, Dara , Donaldson, Alex , Elliott, Bruce , Cook, Jill
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Clinical journal of sport medicine Vol. 23, no. 6 (November 2013 2013), p. 430-438
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565907
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- Description: Objective:High-quality sport-specific information about the nature, type, cause, and frequency of injuries is needed to set injury prevention priorities. This article describes the type, nature, and mechanism of injuries in community Australian Football (community AF) players, as collected through field-based monitoring of injury in teams of players.Data Sources:Compilation of published prospectively collected injury data from 3 studies in junior community AF (1202 injuries in 1950+ players) and 3 studies in adult community AF (1765 injuries in 2265 players). This was supplemented with previously unpublished data from the most recent adult community AF injury cohort study conducted in 2007 to 2008. Injuries were ranked according to most common body regions, nature of injury, and mechanism.Main Results:In all players, lower limb injuries were the most frequent injury in community AF and were generally muscle strains, joint sprains, and superficial injuries. These injuries most commonly resulted from incidental contact with other players, or from overexertion. Upper limb injuries were less common but included fractures, strains, and sprains that were generally caused by incidental contact between players and the result of players falling to the ground.Conclusions:Lower limb injuries are common in community AF and could have an adverse impact on sustained participation in the game. Based on what is known about their mechanisms, it is likely that a high proportion of lower limb injuries could be prevented and they should therefore be a priority for injury prevention in community AF.
Combining epidemiology and biomechanics in sports injury prevention research : A new approach for selecting suitable controls
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Ullah, Shahid , McIntosh, Andrew
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 41, no. 1 (2011), p. 59-72
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: Several important methodological issues need to be considered when designing sports injury case-control studies. Major design goals for case-control studies include the accounting for prior injury risk exposure, and optimal definitions of both cases and suitable controls are needed to ensure this. This article reviews methodological aspects of published sports injury case-control studies, particularly with regard to the selection of controls. It argues for a new approach towards selecting controls for case-control studies that draws on an interface between epidemiological and biomechanical concepts. A review was conducted to identify sport injury case-control studies published in the peer-review literature during 1985-2008. Overall, 32 articles were identified, of which the majority related to upper or lower extremity injuries. Matching considerations were used for control selection in 16 studies. Specific mention of application of biomechanical principles in the selection of appropriate controls was absent from all studies, including those purporting to evaluate the benefits of personal protective equipment to protect against impact injury. This is a problem because it could lead to biased conclusions, as cases and controls are not fully comparable in terms of similar biomechanical impact profiles relating to the injury incident, such as site of the impact on the body. The strength of the conclusions drawn from case-control studies, and the extent to which results can be generalized, is directly influenced by the definition and recruitment of cases and appropriate controls. Future studies should consider the interface between epidemiological and biomechanical concepts when choosing appropriate controls to ensure that proper adjustment of prior exposure to injury risk is made. To provide necessary guidance for the optimal selection of controls in case-control studies of interventions to prevent sports-related impact injury, this review outlines a new case-control selection strategy that reflects the importance of biomechanical considerations, which ensures that controls are selected based on the presence of the same global injury mechanism as the cases. To summarize, the general biomechanical principles that should apply to the selection of controls in future case-control studies are as follows: (i) each control must have been exposed to the same global injury mechanism as the case, (e.g. head impact, fall onto outstretched arm); and (ii) intrinsic (individual) factors (e.g. age, sex, skill level) that might modify the person's response to the relevant biomechanical loads are adjusted when either selecting the controls or are in the analysis phase. The same considerations for control selection apply to other study designs such as matched cohort studies or case-crossover studies. © 2011 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved.
A prospective cohort study of the incidence of injuries among junior Australian football players : Evidence for an effect of playing-age level
- Authors: Romiti, Maria , Finch, Caroline , Gabbe, Belinda
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 42, no. 6 (Jun 2008), p. 441-446
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objective: To determine the rate of injury in junior Australian football, and to describe the patterns and severity of these injuries across nine levels of play (U9 to U18). Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Junior Australian football games and training sessions were observed for 54 teams from New South Wales and Victoria over the 2004 playing season. Participants: Six teams from each level of play were invited to participate in the study. Overall, data were collected for 51 teams over 40 208 hours of player exposure. Independent variables: Participation and injury data were collected prospectively. Main outcome measures: Injury was defined as "any trauma that causes some disability or pain''. Injury severity was identified by the action of players immediately after the injury event. Results: The overall injury rate was 18.0 (95% CI 16.6 to 19.3) injuries per 1000 player hours. The main cause of injury was body contact (67.3%). There was an increased frequency of sprains and strains, and injury severity with increasing level of play. The rates of injury for players who stayed off the field (6.4 injuries per 1000 hours, 95% CI 5.6 to 7.2) or were advised to seek off-field medical advice (5.0 injuries per 1000 hours, 95% CI 4.3 to 5.7) were low. Conclusion: Compared with the adult game, junior Australian football is relatively safe. However, injury rates increase as children progress across age-determined levels of play towards the more adult form of the game.
- Description: C1
The descriptive epidemiology of sports/leisure-related heat illness hospitalisations in New South Wales, Australia
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Boufous, Soufiane
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 11, no. 1 (2008), p. 48-51
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Sport-related heat illness has not been commonly studied from an epidemiological perspective. This study presents the descriptive epidemiology of sports/leisure-related heat illness hospitalisations in New South Wales, Australia. All in-patient separations from all acute hospitals in NSW during 2001-2004, with an International Classification of Diseases external cause of injury code indicating "exposure to excessive natural heat (X30)" or any ICD-10 diagnosis code in the range: "effects of heat and light (T67.0-T67.9)", were analysed. The sport/leisure relatedness of cases was defined by ICD-10-AM activity codes indicating involvement in sport/leisure activities. Cases of exposure to heat while engaged in sport/leisure were described by gender, year, age, principal diagnosis, type of activity/sport and length of stay. There were 109 hospital separations for exposure to heat while engaging in sport/leisure activity, with the majority occurring during the hottest months. The number of male cases significantly increased over the 4-year period and 45+-year olds had the largest number of cases. Heat exhaustion was the leading cause of hospital separation (40% of cases). Marathon running, cricket and golf were the activities most commonly associated with heat-related hospitalisation. Ongoing development and refinement of expert position statements regarding heat illnesses need to draw on both epidemiological and physiological evidence to ensure their relevance to all levels of risk from the real world sport training and competition contexts. © 2007.
- Description: C1