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Systematic review of rugby injuries in children and adolescents under 21 years
  1. Andreas Freitag,
  2. Graham Kirkwood,
  3. Sebastian Scharer,
  4. Richard Ofori-Asenso,
  5. Allyson M Pollock
  1. Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Professor Allyson M Pollock, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University of London, Yvonne Carter Building, 58 Turner Street, London E1 2AB, UK; a.pollock{at}qmul.ac.uk

Abstract

A systematic review of rugby union and league injuries among players under the age of 21 years was carried out to calculate probabilities of match injury for a player over a season and a pooled estimate of match injury incidence where studies were sufficiently similar. The probability of a player being injured over a season ranged from 6% to 90% for rugby union and 68% to 96% for rugby league. The pooled injury incidence estimate for rugby union was 26.7/1000 player-hours for injuries irrespective of need for medical attention or time-loss and 10.3/1000 player-hours for injuries requiring at least 7 days absence from games; equivalent to a 28.4% and 12.1% risk of being injured over a season. Study heterogeneity contributed to a wide variation in injury incidence. Public injury surveillance and prevention systems have been successful in reducing injury rates in other countries. No such system exists in the UK.

  • Rugby
  • Concussion
  • Sporting injuries
  • Adolescent
  • Child

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