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Epidemiology of injuries in Australian school level rugby union
Leung, Felix Smith, Melinda Brown, Mark Rahmann, Ann Mendis, Dilani Hides, Julie
Leung, Felix
Smith, Melinda
Brown, Mark
Rahmann, Ann
Mendis, Dilani
Hides, Julie
Abstract
Objectives There is a high incidence of injuries in rugby union due to the physical nature of the game. There is a lack of large-scale injury surveillance data reported for school level rugbyplayers of different ages. Our study aimed to investigate the frequency and nature of injuries being sustained during an Australian school level rugby union season. Design Prospective observational study. Methods Injury surveillance was conducted on 3585 rugby players from all 8 schools participating in an interschool rugby competition in Queensland, Australia. Match injury data were collected using paper-based injury recording forms during the season using a ‘medical-attention’ injury definition for each age group from opens (17 and 18 year olds) through to year 5 teams (9–10 year olds). Results There were 332 injuries recorded over 14,029 player hours during the season. The overall rate of injury was 23.7/1000 player hours (95% CI, 21.2–26.3). The incidence of upper and lower limb injuries were 6.3 and 5.6 injuries/1000 player hours respectively (95% CI, 5.1–7.8 and 4.5–7.0). The incidence of suspected concussion injuries was 4.3/1000 player hours (95% CI, 3.6–5.5). Injuries differed across age groups and tackling was the most common mechanism of injury. Conclusions The injury patterns observed in this large sample of players could be used to guide injury prevention programs in school level rugby union. Injury prevention programs should include age appropriate interventions and focus on improving the techniques used during the contact phase of rugby.
Keywords
adolescent, concussion, sport injury, surveillance, youth
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Book
Volume
20
Issue
8
Page Range
740-744
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Allied Health
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled