Cumulative Sport-related Injuries and Longer Term Impact in Retired Male Elite- and Amateur-level Rugby Code Athletes and Non-contact Athletes: A Retrospective Study

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aut.relation.endpage2061
aut.relation.issue11en_NZ
aut.relation.journalSports Medicineen_NZ
aut.relation.startpage2051
aut.relation.volume20en_NZ
dark.contributor.authorHind, Ken_NZ
dark.contributor.authorKonerth, Nen_NZ
dark.contributor.authorEntwistle, Ien_NZ
dark.contributor.authorTheadom, Aen_NZ
dark.contributor.authorLewis, Gen_NZ
dark.contributor.authorKing, Den_NZ
dark.contributor.authorChazot, Pen_NZ
dark.contributor.authorHume, Pen_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-23T01:18:42Z
dc.date.available2020-11-23T01:18:42Z
dc.date.copyright2020en_NZ
dc.date.issued2020en_NZ
dc.description.abstractBackground: Rugby union and rugby league are popular team contact sports, but they bring a high risk of injury. Although previous studies have reported injury occurrence across one or several seasons, none have explored the total number of injuries sustained across an entire career. As the first to do so, the aim of this study was to report on cumulative injuries and their perceived long-term impact in retired rugby code athletes compared to athletes from non-contact sports. Methods: One hundred and eighty-nine former rugby code athletes (rugby union n = 145; rugby league n = 44) and 65 former non-contact athletes were recruited to the UK Rugby Health Project between September 2016 and December 2018. Details on sports participation, sports injuries and concussion history, sports injury-related surgeries, and previous and current health were obtained from a validated, online self-report questionnaire. Results: Former elite rugby code athletes (n = 83) reported more total injuries per player (median 39, IQR 35) than former amateur rugby code athletes (n = 106; median 23, IQR 30; p = 0.014) and non-contact sports athletes (n = 65; median 7.5, IQR 15; p < 0.001). Concussion was the most frequently reported injury for the elite and amateur rugby code groups, followed by upper/lower back and knee ligament injuries. These injuries also presented with the highest recurrence. Rugby code groups reported a higher continued impact of previous concussion, neck injuries, shoulder dislocation, ACL tears, and knee ligament injuries (p = 0.003–0.045). The reported prevalence of osteoarthritis was more than twofold greater in the elite rugby code group than in non-contact athletes (51% v 22%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of back pain and/or severe and regular joint pain was high across all groups (47–80%), particularly the elite rugby code group. The total number of joint injuries and sport injury-related surgeries was higher in those who reported current osteoarthritis and current severe and regular joint pain (p < 0.001–p = 0.028). Conclusion: Across multiple injury types, past participation in rugby union and rugby league, particularly at elite level, is associated with a high cumulative injury load and a continued impact of previous injuries post-retirement. Given the high number of reported concussions (and their recurrence) and associations between previous injuries during a player’s career and current musculoskeletal conditions, efforts should be prioritized to reduce the occurrence and recurrence of injuries in rugby codes at all levels of the sport. Strategies should also be developed for supporting the specific physical health needs of rugby code athletes post-retirement.en_NZ
dc.identifier.citationSports Medicine, 50(11), 2051-2061.
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s40279-020-01310-yen_NZ
dc.identifier.issn0112-1642en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn1179-2035en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/13813
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.relation.urihttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-020-01310-y
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.titleCumulative Sport-related Injuries and Longer Term Impact in Retired Male Elite- and Amateur-level Rugby Code Athletes and Non-contact Athletes: A Retrospective Studyen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id385716
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Health & Environmental Science
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Health & Environmental Science/Clinical Sciences
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Health & Environmental Science/SPRINZ
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Health and Environmental Sciences
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Health and Environmental Sciences/HH Clinical Sciences 2018 PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Health and Environmental Sciences/HS Sports & Recreation 2018 PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Health and Environmental Sciences/HY Public Health & Psychosocial Studies 2018 PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PVC - Research & Innovation
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