Citation

Fuller CW, Ward CJ. Inj. Prev. 2008; 14(4): 256-261.

Affiliation

Centre for Sports Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. colin.fuller@nottingham.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/ip.2008.018739

PMID

18676785

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine acceptable levels of risk in sport and to compare these with values used in occupational settings. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. Settings: Seven soccer and 11 rugby union teams. SUBJECTS: 140 male athletes and 108 male and 100 female spectators associated with soccer and rugby union teams. Main outcomes: Views on acceptable frequencies with which athletes sustain acute injuries of various levels of severity. RESULTS: The responses of athletes and spectators were similar, although spectators consistently indicated a higher acceptable frequency of injury than athletes. There were no significant differences in responses as a function of respondents' gender and age. The results confirmed an inverse relationship between the acceptable frequency of occurrence and the severity of injury, although the relationships identified by the risk-averse and risk-taking minorities within the sample population were widely different. CONCLUSION: The mean frequency-severity risk relationship identified by athletes and spectators in soccer and rugby was similar to the relationship routinely used for risk assessments in industry and commerce.

Language: en