Citation

Sewry N, Verhagen E, Lambert M, Van Mechelen W, Marsh J, Readhead C, Viljoen W, Brown J. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports 2018; 28(9): 2066-2073.

Affiliation

Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, Department of Public and Occupational Health and Amsterdam Public Health research institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sms.13087

PMID

29572956

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Youth rugby is a popular sport in South Africa (SA) with a high injury incidence. The annual SA Rugby Youth Week tournaments attract the top age group players in the country providing a sample of players for reliable injury surveillance. The aim of the study was to analyse the changes in time-loss injury rates at the SA Rugby Youth Week tournaments between 2011 and 2016, differences between age-groups, and to investigate associated injury risk factors.

METHODS: All confirmed time-loss injuries at the four age group tournaments (under-13, under-16 and two under-18) from 2011-2016 were recorded. Injury incidence densities (IID) for years, tournaments and injury risk factors were calculated and Poisson regression analyses were performed to determine differences.

RESULTS: Time-loss injuries (n=494) were reported over 24,240 exposure hours, with an overall IID of 20.4(18.6-22.2) injuries per 1000 player hours. 2013 had a significantly lower IID compared to 2011. Injury risk decreased with increasing age; under-13 and under-16 had significantly higher IID compared to under-18 Craven Week. Tackling was the phase of play at highest risk, with an IID of 7.4(6.3-8.5) injuries per 1000 player hours. Central/Peripheral Nervous System (CNS/PNS) and therefore, the Head/Neck were the most commonly occurring injuries/location injured.

CONCLUSION: Within the SA Rugby tournament structure, the older players had a decreased rate of injury. The tackle event was still the phase of play with the highest injury incidence regardless of age. This increase in incidence is largely due to an increase in CNS/PNS injuries. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Incidence; Risk Factors; Rugby; South Africa