Abstract

A prospective survey was carried out on 2293 patients attending the Sports Injury Clinic in the Prince of Wales Hospital between May 1984 and December 1990. A Sports Injury Report Form was completed for each patient. Subjects in this study represent a group of nonprofessional and non-élite athletes in a metropolitan area. Soccer, basketball, volleyball, long-distance running and cycling in descending order were the five most common sports causing injury. Different sports produced different injury patterns. In four of the five sports, the knee (27.27-50.47%) and the ankle (16.78-24.67%) were the commonest sites of injury. In cycling, the face (19.46%) was the commonest site of injury. There was a higher injury rate to the lower than the upper limb in soccer, basketball, volleyball and long-distance running, with a ratio of upper- to lower-limb injury ranging from 1:1.13 to 1:46.10. In cycling, upper limb injury was more frequent (upper- to lower-limb injury ratio was 1:0.53). Sprain was the commonest injury overall (44.60%). It was also the commonest injury condition in volleyball (55.15%), basketball (55.34%), soccer (51.41%) and long-distance running (39.33%). In cycling, abrasion (24.83%) was commonest.