Differences in injury rates in child motor vehicle passengers in rural and urban areas in New South Wales, July 2000 to June 2004
- Authors: Du, Wei , Finch, Caroline , Hayen, Andrew , Hatfield, Julie
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Vol. 31, no. 5 (2007), p. 483-488
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objectives: To investigate whether the pattern of hospitalised injuries in injured child motor vehicle passengers involved in traffic crashes differs in rural and urban residents of New South Wales (NSW). Methods: This study compared injuries of hospitalised child motor vehicle passengers resident in rural areas with those from urban areas. The NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection (ISC), a population-based dataset, was used to select cases for the period of July 2000 to June 2004. The hospitalised injury rate was calculated according to urban/rural status using Poisson regression, injury rate ratios (IRR) comparing rural and urban children were computed overall and for specific injury types. Results: Overall, 1,286 children (aged 0-15 years) residing in NSW were identified from the NSW ISC internally linked datasets as being separated from hospital for injuries resulting from a motor vehicle crash. The overall hospitalised injury incidence rates for child motor vehicle passengers resident in rural and urban NSW areas were 46.75 (95% CI 36.63-59.66) and 20.13 (95% CI 17.94-22.58) per 100,000 children respectively. The rural/urban IRR for comparing the incidence of hospitalisation was significantly elevated (IRR=2.10, 95% CI 1.78-2.48).The IRR was also significantly elevated across most injury types. The largest risk disparity between rural and urban children was in 9-12 year-olds (IRR=2.33, 95% CI 1.73-3.13). Conclusion and Implications: There is an elevated injury incidence rate in rural resident children, compared with their urban counterparts. This differential should be addressed in future road safety initiatives. © 2007 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2007 Public Health Association of Australia.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005762
Area socioeconomic status and childhood injury morbidity in New South Wales, Australia
- Authors: Poulos, Roslyn , Hayen, Andrew , Finch, Caroline , Zwi, Anthony
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 13, no. 5 (Oct 2007), p. 322-327
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To explore the relationship between child injury morbidity and socioeconomic status. Design: A cross-sectional analysis of routinely collected hospital separation data for unintentional injury for the period 1999/2000-2004/2005. Setting: All statistical local areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia Subjects: 110 549 unintentional injury-related hospital separations for NSW children aged 0-14 years. Main outcome measure: Adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for hospital separations for unintentional injury (for all injury and by individual injury mechanisms) by quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage for children aged 0-14 years. Results: There was no clear relationship between socioeconomic status and injury when all injury mechanisms were combined. However, children in the more disadvantaged quintiles were more likely to be hospitalized than children in the least disadvantaged quintile for the following injury mechanisms: motor cycle ( point estimates for IRRs across the socioeconomic status quintiles ranged from 2.95 to 4.02 relative to the least disadvantaged quintile), motor-vehicle occupant (IRR range 1.33-2.27), pedestrian (IRR range 1.43-2.54 for ages 0-4 years), pedal cyclist ( IRR range 1.30-1.50), fire and burns ( IRR range 1.37-2.00), and poisoning (IRR range 1.32-1.91). Similarly, hospital separation rates for foreign body, other transport, and pedestrian (aged 5-9 years) injuries were also greater, but the differences were not statistically significant across all quintiles. These injury mechanisms accounted for about 25% of the hospital separations. Conclusions: The relationship between relative socioeconomic disadvantage and injury risk in NSW children is strongest for transport-related injuries, fires and burns, and poisoning. Interventions that address these specific injury mechanisms may help to reduce the disparity between high and lower socioeconomic groups.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005883
Age-specific parental knowledge of restraint transitions influences appropriateness of child occupant restraint use
- Authors: Bilston, Lynne , Finch, Caroline , Hatfield, Julie , Brown, Jill
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 14, no. 3 (2008), p. 159-163
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To determine the factors that influence appropriate restraint usage by child occupants across the age range for which any type of child restraint may be appropriate (0-10 years). Design: Randomized household telephone survey. Setting: Statewide survey, New South Wales, Australia. Subjects: Parents or carers of children aged 0-10 years. Main outcome measures: Parental reporting of appropriateness of child restraint. Methods: Demographic information and data on age, size, restraint practices, parental knowledge of child occupant safety, and attitude to restraint use was collected using a structured interview. Data were analysed using logistic regression after cluster adjustment. Results: Inappropriate restraint use by children was widespread, particularly in children aged 2+ years. Overall, parental knowledge of appropriate ages for restraint transitions was associated with increased likelihood of appropriate restraint use. Lower levels of formal parental education, larger families, parental restraint non-use, and parent/child negotiability of restraint use were predictors of inappropriate restraint use. For particular child age subgroups, the parental knowledge that predicted appropriate restraint use was specific to that age group. Most parents felt that they knew enough to safely restrain their child, despite widespread inappropriate restraint use. Conclusions: Parents are more likely to make appropriate restraint choices for their children if they possess restraint knowledge specific to their children's age and size. Educational campaigns may be most effective when they provide information for specific ages and transition points. Strategies to overcome parents' misplaced confidence that they know enough to restrain their children safely are also indicated.
- Description: C1
Activity and place - Is it necessary both to identify sports and leisure injury cases in ICD-coded data?
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Boufous, Soufiane
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion Vol. 15, no. 2 (2008), p. 119-121
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: 2003006560
Hospital admissions following presentations to emergency departments for a fracture in older people
- Authors: Boufous, Soufiane , Finch, Caroline , Close, Jacqueline , Day, Lesley , Lord, Stephen
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 13, no. 3 (2007), p. 211-214
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The aim of this paper is to estimate the proportion of older people who are hospitalised following a presentation to an emergency department for hip, pelvic and wrist fractures. The findings indicate that hospitalisation data do not accurately reflect the incidence of low-trauma fractures, particularly wrist and pelvic fractures, in older people.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005768
Examination of triage nurse text narratives to identify sports injury cases in emergency department presentations
- Authors: Mitchell, Rebecca , Finch, Caroline , Boufous, Soufiane , Browne, Gary
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion Vol. 16, no. 3 (2009), p. 153-157
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Narrative text can be a useful means of identifying injury in routine data collections. An analysis of data from a near real-time emergency department surveillance system (NREDSS) in New South Wales (NSW, Australia) was conducted to determine if sports injuries can be identified from routine narrative text recorded in emergency departments. Around one-third of all emergency department (ED) presentations during 1 September 2003 to 15 February 2007 were identified as injury-related. Narrative text searching of triage nursing assessments using keywords identified between 282 (i.e. football) and 26,944 (i.e. play) potential sports injury presentations depending on the selected sports-related keyword used. Routine narrative text descriptions from triage nurse assessments show promise for the identification of sports injury presentations to EDs. Further work is required regarding in-depth assessment of case detection capabilities and the likelihood of improving the quality of narrative text recorded. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.
- Description: 2003008202
Statistical modelling for falls count data
- Authors: Ullah, Shahid , Finch, Caroline , Day, Lesley
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Accident Analysis and Prevention Vol. 42, no. 2 (2010), p. 384-392
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text:
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- Description: Falls and their injury outcomes have count distributions that are highly skewed toward the right with clumping at zero, posing analytical challenges. Different modelling approaches have been used in the published literature to describe falls count distributions, often without consideration of the underlying statistical and modelling assumptions. This paper compares the use of modified Poisson and negative binomial (NB) models as alternatives to Poisson (P) regression, for the analysis of fall outcome counts. Four different count-based regression models (P, NB, zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP), zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB)) were each individually fitted to four separate fall count datasets from Australia, New Zealand and United States. The finite mixtures of P and NB regression models were also compared to the standard NB model. Both analytical (F, Vuong and bootstrap tests) and graphical approaches were used to select and compare models. Simulation studies assessed the size and power of each model fit. This study confirms that falls count distributions are over-dispersed, but not dispersed due to excess zero counts or heterogeneous population. Accordingly, the P model generally provided the poorest fit to all datasets. The fit improved significantly with NB and both zero-inflated models. The fit was also improved with the NB model, compared to finite mixtures of both P and NB regression models. Although there was little difference in fit between NB and ZINB models, in the interests of parsimony it is recommended that future studies involving modelling of falls count data routinely use the NB models in preference to the P or ZINB or finite mixture distribution. The fact that these conclusions apply across four separate datasets from four different samples of older people participating in studies of different methodology, adds strength to this general guiding principle. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The impact of environmental, vehicle and driver characteristics on injury severity in older drivers hospitalized as a result of a traffic crash
- Authors: Boufous, Soufiane , Finch, Caroline , Hayen, Andrew , Williamson, Ann
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Safety Research Vol. 39, no. 1 (2008), p. 65-72
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: Compared to younger age groups, older people are more likely to be seriously injured or to die as a result of a traffic crash. Method: The aim of the study is to examine the impact of environmental, vehicle, crash, and driver characteristics on injury severity in older drivers involved in traffic crashes by using recently linked police crash records and hospitalization data from New South Wales, Australia. The severity of injury resulting from traffic crashes was measured using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) Injury Severity Score (ICISS). Results: Multivariate analysis identified rurality, presence of complex intersections, road speed limit, driver error, speeding, and seat belt use as independent predictors of injury severity in older people. The type of intersection configuration explained over half of the observed variations in injury severity. Impact on Industry: Environmental modification such as intersection treatments might contribute to a decrease in the severity of injury in older people involved in road crashes.
- Description: 2003006544
Modelling the population-level impact of tai-chi on falls and fall-related injury among community-dwelling older people
- Authors: Day, Lesley , Finch, Caroline , Harrison, James , Hoareau, Effie , Segal, Leonie , Ullah, Shahid
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 16, no. 5 (2010), p. 321-326
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To model the population level impact of tai-chi on future rates of falls and fall-related injury in older people as a tool for policy development. Design: An epidemiological and economic model for estimating population-level effectiveness of tai-chi. Setting: Australia, 2009. Patients or subjects: Australian community-dwelling population aged 70+ years, ambulatory and without debilitating conditions or profound visual defects. Intervention: Group-based tai-chi, for 1 h twice weekly for 26 weeks, assuming no sustained effect beyond the intervention period. Main outcome measure: Total falls and fall-related hospitalisation prevented in 2009. Results: Population-wide tai-chi delivery would prevent an estimated 5440 falls and 109 fall-related hospitalisations, resulting in a 0.18% reduction in the fall related hospital admission rate for community-dwelling older people. The gross costs per fall and per fall-related hospital admission prevented were $ A4414 ((sic)3013) and $A220 712 ((sic)150 684), respectively. A total investment of $A24.01 million ((sic)16.39 million), equivalent to 4.2% of the cost of fall-related episodes of hospital care in 2003/4, would be required to provide tai-chi for 31 998 people and achieve this effect. Conclusions: Substantial investment in, and high population uptake of, tai-chi would be required to have a large effect on falls and fall-related hospitalisation rates. Although not accounted for in this study, investment in tai-chi is likely to be associated with additional significant health benefits beyond falls prevention. This approach could be applied to other interventions to assist selection of the most cost effective falls-prevention portfolio for Australia and other countries.
How comparable are road traffic crash cases in hospital admissions data and police records? An examination of data linkage rates
- Authors: Lujic, Sanja , Finch, Caroline , Boufous, Soufiane , Hayen, Andrew , Dunsmuir, William
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian And New Zealand Journal Of Public Health Vol. 32, no. 1 (2008), p. 28-33
- Relation: Open Access
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: OBJECTIVES: An assessment of linked data was used to investigate the scope and the extent to which hospitalisations data and police crash records represent road crashes in New South Wales (NSW). METHODS: Hospital separation records for the period 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, inclusive, were linked to police crash casualty records for the same period using probabilistic record linkage techniques. Multivariable logistic regression techniques were used to identify factors independently associated with the probability of record linkage. RESULTS: Of 17,552 road transport-related hospital records, 45.1% matched to police crash casualty records. When the analysis was restricted to road traffic crashes, 69.2% of the 9,178 records had a matching police crash casualty record. Multivariable analysis found the most significant factors contributing to the likelihood of linkage to be road user type, payment status and principal diagnosis of injury variables. Motor vehicle controllers, cases entitled to financial compensation and cases with a principal diagnosis of injury were significantly more likely to be linked than all other cases. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that researchers and policy makers should be cautious when examining traffic crashes based on a separate analysis of the hospitalisations data and police crash records. This is particularly true for crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and those resulting in less severe injuries. IMPLICATIONS: The findings have implications for use of both police crash records and hospital records in informing the development of strategies designed to prevent road trauma in the community.
- Description: 2003006566
Population-level estimates of child restraint practices among children aged 0-12 years in NSW, Australia
- Authors: Brown, Julie , Hatfield, Julie , Du, Wei , Finch, Caroline , Bilston, Lynne
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Accident Analysis and Prevention Vol. 42, no. 6 (2010), p. 2144-2148
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This cross-sectional study provides population-referenced data on the restraints used and the extent of incorrect restraint use, among child vehicle passengers aged 0-12 years in NSW, Australia. A multistage stratified cluster sampling plan was used to randomly select vehicles from baby/child health clinics, pre-schools/day care centres, and primary schools across NSW to undergo detailed inspection of restraints used by child occupants within those vehicles. Overall, there were very high restraint usage rates (>99% of sampled children) but fewer than one quarter of children were using the correct size-appropriate restraints. Incorrect use (51.4%) was as common as inappropriate use (51.2%). Incorrect use was highest among users of dedicated child restraint systems (OR 16.0, 95% CI 6.9-36.0), and was more likely among those using size-appropriate restraints than those using inappropriate restraints (OR 1.8 95% CI 1.1-3.2); and among convertible restraints than those designed for a single mode of use (OR 1.5 95% CI 1.2-1.7). As incorrect use substantially reduces the protection from injury that is offered by child restraints, it is important that future strategies to reduce casualties among child occupants target both inappropriate and incorrect use. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Towards evidence-informed sports safety policy for New South Wales, Australia : Assessing the readiness of the sector
- Authors: Poulos, Roslyn , Donaldson, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 16, no. 2 (2010), p. 127-131
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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Do inadequacies in ICD-10-AM activity coded data lead to underestimates of the population frequency of sports/leisure injuries?
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Boufous, Soufiane
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 14, no. 3 (Jun 2008), p. 202-204
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aims: To assess the use of the International Classification of Diseases Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) activity sub-codes for identifying sports/leisure injury hospitalizations and the impact of missing codes on population incidence estimates. Methods: Injury-related hospital separations in New South Wales, Australia, for the period 2003-04 were examined with sports/leisure cases identified by the ICD-10-AM activity codes. Results: Over 30% of all injury hospitalizations had either a missing or unspecified activity code. Among cases with valid activity codes, 13.9% of all injury hospitalizations were associated with sports/leisure. When adjusted for underreporting associated with undefined or missing activity codes, sports/leisure injuries accounted for up to 20% of injury hospitalizations. Conclusion: Defining sports/leisure injury cases on the basis of activity codes is likely to lead to an underestimate of their contribution to the overall injury burden. Improvements need to be made to the completeness of activity coding of hospitalization data.
- Description: C1
Comparison of methods to correct the miscounting of multiple episodes of care when estimating the incidence of hospitalised injury in child motor vehicle passengers
- Authors: Du, Wei , Hayen, Andrew , Finch, Caroline , Hatfield, Julie
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Accident Analysis and Prevention Vol. 40, no. 4 (2008), p. 1563-1568
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This study evaluates the performance of different case selection criteria to account for multiple episodes of care when estimating the hospitalisation rate due to road trauma amongst children. The internally linked NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection (ISC) dataset for the period between 1st July, 2000 and 30th June, 2003 was used to identify the "single" episode of care for each hospitalised child motor vehicle passenger residing in NSW. We used two hospitalised injury definitions of a case based on (1) all-diagnoses and (2) principal diagnosis only. We then developed case selection criteria, based on (a) linkage methods only available from linked ISC datasets; (b) selected variables available in both the linked and unlinked ISC datasets, to exclude repeat episodes of care for an injury. Changes in the estimated hospitalisation rate, and sensitivity and specificity, were calculated for each selection criteria compared to the findings from linkage methods as the "gold standard". None of the correction methods for multiple episodes of care was clearly superior in terms of incidence estimation, sensitivity, and specificity concurrently. However, the correction criterion which is optimal may vary depending on different study objectives and different types of hospitalised injuries. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Shorter time to first injury in first year professional football players : A cross-club comparison in the Australian Football League
- Authors: Fortington, Lauren , Berry, Jason , Buttifant, David , Ullah, Shahid , Diamantopoulou, Kathy , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 19, no. 1 (2014), p.18-23
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: AbstractObjectives Australian Football League (AFL) players have a high risk of injury. Anecdotally, this injury risk is greater in emerging players (i.e. those in their first year), compared with established players (with 3+ years of experience). This study aimed to conduct the first comparison of injury risk and playing experience in these two player groups across a large number of AFL clubs. Design Prospective, cohort. Methods Injuries, game participation and training participation were collected weekly by 8 AFL clubs for 61 emerging and 64 established players. Injury incidence rates (IIR) and Cox proportional hazard models for time to first injury, separately for games and training, were computed. Results The game IIR was significantly higher for emerging than established players: 45.6 (95% CI: 35.7, 57.6) versus 18.3 (95% CI: 13.1, 24.9) per 1000 game-hours. Emerging players also had a higher training IIR than did the established players: 9.6 (95% CI: 7.6, 11.9) versus 8.9 (95% CI: 7.0, 11.1) per 1000 training-hours. Emerging players were significantly less likely to remain injury free in games than established players (HR = 3.46, 95% CI: 1.27, 9.45). A similar outcome was seen in training sessions, although to a lesser degree (HR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.69). Conclusions Despite efforts to modify the playing/training program of emerging players, this group remain at greater risk of injury in games and training sessions, compared with established players. Continued efforts should be made toward understanding reasons for this increased risk to better prevent injury during the early years of a professional football career.
Observations of caregiver supervision of children at beaches : Identification of factors associated with high supervision
- Authors: Petrass, Lauren , Blitvich, Jennifer , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 17, no. 4 (2011), p. 244-249
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565904
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision levels at beaches. Methods: Children (aged 1-14 years) engaged in beach play and their caregivers were observed at Australian beaches during September-April, 2008/09. Caregiver, child, and environmental factor data were collected and recorded on a validated observation instrument. The main outcome of interest was a continuous measure of supervision. After adjusting for potential clustering by beach/state, multivariable linear regression was used to identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision. Results: Four independent predictors of supervision and one interaction effect (child age by the caregiver and child position on beach) were identified. Caregivers who were supervising from a different position to where the child was playing were less likely to provide high supervision, as were older caregivers (>35 years) compared to younger caregivers (≤34 years). Compared to children playing alone, children playing with one, or two or more others were less likely to receive high supervision, and children aged 1-4 years were likely to receive higher supervision than older children. Conclusion: This study provides new knowledge about underlying factors associated with the level of caregiver supervision in beach settings. Future studies should continue to explore independent predictors of supervision so that effective programmes, which focus on caregiver supervision, can be targeted to address poor supervision practices.
Trends in hospitalised sport/leisure injuries in New South Wales, Australia-Implications for the targetting of population-focussed preventive sports medicine efforts
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Mitchell, Rebecca , Boufous, Soufiane
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 14, no. 1 (January 2011), p. 15-21
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Sport/leisure injuries are a population health issue in Australia. Over 2003-2004 to 2007-2008, the rate of sport/leisure injury NSW hospitalisations was 195.5/100,000 residents. Males and children/young people had consistently highest rates of hospitalisation. There was no significant decline in rates over this period and no change in the profiles of the types of sport/leisure injuries. The extent to which effective preventive programs have been developed and implemented needs to be determined as current programs do not seem to be impacting on hospitalisation rates. Medical/health promotion agencies and sports bodies need to jointly formulate and implement policies to reduce sport/leisure injuries. This is one of the most significant challenges facing sports medicine professionals today.
When 'just doing it' is not enough: Assessing the fidelity of player performance of an injury prevention exercise program
- Authors: Fortington, Lauren , Donaldson, Alex , Lathlean, Tim , Young, Warren , Gabbe, Belinda , Lloyd, David , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 18, no. 3 (May 2014 2014), p.272-277
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565907
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: To obtain benefits from sports injury prevention programs, players are instructed to perform the exercises as prescribed. We developed an observational checklist to measure the quality of exercise performance by players participating in FootyFirst, a coach-led, exercise-based, lower-limb injury prevention program in community Australian Football (AF). Design: Observational. Methods: The essential performance criteria for each FootyFirst exercise were described in terms of the technique, volume and intensity required to perform each exercise. An observational checklist was developed to evaluate each criterion through direct visual observation of players at training. The checklist was trialled by two independent raters who observed the same 70 players completing the exercises at eight clubs. Agreement between observers was assessed by Kappa-statistics. Exercise fidelity was defined as the proportion of observed players who performed all aspects of their exercises correctly. Results: The raters agreed on 61/70 observations (87%) (Kappa = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.55; 0.89). Of the observations with agreed ratings, 41 (67%) players were judged as performing the exercises as prescribed. Conclusions: The observational checklist demonstrated high inter-rater reliability. Many players observed did not perform the exercises as prescribed, raising concern as to whether they would be receiving anticipated program benefits. Where quality of exercise performance is important, evaluation and reporting of program fidelity should include direct observations of participants.
Challenges when implementing a sports injury prevention training program into real-world community sport
- Authors: Twomey, Dara , Finch, Caroline , Doyle, Tim , Lloyd, David , Elliot, Bruce
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 16, no. Supplement 1 (2013), p. e24
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: A full understanding of the ecological context is critical in the implementation of an effective sports injury prevention intervention. There are many complexities and challenges associated with the delivery of a successful intervention in a community team-based setting. Although the development and efficacy of interventions are regularly reported, rarely are the lessons learnt during the delivery of the intervention published. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the key issues experienced in the delivery of a lower limb injury prevention training program in community-level Australian football.
Identifying risk factors for contact injury in professional rugby league players - Application of a frailty model for recurrent injury
- Authors: Gabbett, Tim , Ullah, Shahid , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 15, no. 6 (November 2012), p. 496-504
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: Well-developed physical qualities may protect against contact injuries. However, the potential contribution of physical qualities as risk or protective factors to contact injury risk is yet to be determined for rugby league. This study applied a frailty survival model that accounts for recurrent injury to identify risk factors for all physiotherapist-reported contact injury in professional rugby league players. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Sixty-six professional rugby league players participated in this three successive year prospective study. At the start of each season, all players underwent measurements of standard anthropometry (height, body mass, and sum of seven skinfolds), speed (10 m and 40 m sprint), muscular strength (1 repetition maximum [RM] bench press, 1RM squat, 1RM weighted chin-ups), power (vertical jump, bench throw, 1RM power clean, jump squat), and endurance (maximum repetition bench press with 60 kg resistance), repeated-sprint ability (12 × 20 m sprints performed on a 20 s cycle), prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability (8 × 12 s maximal effort shuttles performed on a 48 s cycle), and maximal aerobic power (multi-stage fitness test). Data was used to demonstrate the application of the frailty model extension of the Cox proportional regression model for recurrent events to identify factors associated with a high hazard ratio (HR) of injury. Results: Heavier (body mass, HR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.2-5.7), and faster (40 m sprint, HR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.0-4.2) players, and those with poorly developed prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability (HR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.7-5.0) and upper-body strength (chin-up, HR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.3-3.7) had a higher incidence of contact injuries. Conclusions: This study demonstrates application of a novel statistical approach for the analysis of injury data that is recurrent in nature. This approach identified that the greater impact forces generated from heavier players with faster speed may result in an increase in recurrent contact injury rates. However, the development of prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability and upper-body strength and power may assist to reduce the risk of contact injury in professional rugby league players.