Demographic information from included studies
| Study (date) inclusion rating | Operational definition of injury | Population studied | Injury type (s) | Sample number (n=) | Gender (M:F) | Age (mean years, SD, range) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gordon and Lindgren29 | Not explicitly stated | Elite cricket | Bilateral pars interarticularis defect requiring surgical intervention | 1 | 1 male | Not stated |
| 2. McDonald and Hardy30 | Severe injury leading to time loss from sport of 3 weeks or more | NCAA Division 1 athletes from softball, basketball, track and field, tennis | Musculoskeletal injury including thigh strain, thigh contusion, metatarsal fracture, sprained ankle | 5 | 3:2 | Not stated |
| 3. Johnson31 | Injury occurring in training or competition and minimum time loss of 5 weeks | Highly competitive or elite athletes from team (80%) and individual (20%) sports | Musculoskeletal injury with most common knee, foot/ankle, and shoulder | 81 | 64:17 | 22.9–25.2 |
| 4. Johnson32 | Injury occurring in training or competition and minimum time loss of 5 weeks | Highly competitive or elite athletes from team (80%) and individual (20%) sports | Musculoskeletal injury with most common knee, foot/ankle, and shoulder | 81 | 5:7 | 24.4 |
| 5. Mainwaring33 | Sport-related sprain or torsion injury to the knee severe enough to require at least diagnostic surgery | Competitive elite or club athletes from a variety of sports | Sport-related ACL injuries | 10 | 6:4 | 20–29 years |
| 6. Quinn and Fallon34 | Physical damage sustained as a result of sport participation with time loss of 4-week or more | Elite athletes from 25 different sports (73.5% team sports, 26.5% individual sports) | Musculoskeletal injury—predominantly ligamentous injury knee, injury to shoulder joint, stress fractures | 136 | 118:18 | 24.6±4.5 |
| 7. Ford et al35 | Medical problem sustained during practice or competition that prevented participation (training or playing) for at least 1 day beyond the date of occurrence. | Regularly competitive athletes from Australian football (41), basketball (20), cricket (14), field hockey (9), netball (26) and volleyball (11) | Not explicitly stated | 121 | 65:56 | 22±3.6 |
| 8. Tracey36 | Injury that was moderate to severe and which kept them out of practice and/or competition for at least 7 consecutive days | NCAA Division 3 athletes competing in a variety of team and individual sports | Musculoskeletal injury including ACL sprain, sprained ankle, metatarsal fracture, meniscal tear, back strain, shoulder separation, foot contusion | 10 | Mixed | 21.1±0.9 |
| 9. Kvist et al37 | ACL injury, and undergone reconstruction performed at same hospital | Regularly competitive patient-athletes for example, participating in soccer, handball. Ice hockey, floor ball and American football | ACL requiring surgical reconstruction (various grafts) | 62 | 34:28 | 18–37 |
| 10. Podlog and Eklund38 | Time loss of 1 month or more was the criteria used to denote injuries as serious | Competitive amateur and semiprofessional athletes from a variety of individual and team sports | Serious musculoskeletal injury affecting knee, ankle, hip, shoulder, spine and hand | 12 | 7:5 | 18–28 |
| 11. Thing39 | Not explicitly stated | Elite and non-elite competitive female handball athletes | ACL injury | 17 | 17 female | 19–33 years |
| 12. Vergeer40 | Injury sustained during sport leading to time loss | Competitive rugby league athlete | Shoulder dislocation | 1 | 1 male | 28 |
| 13. Gallagher and Gardner41 | Medically diagnosed and severity led to time loss of 1 week or longer | NCAA Division 1 athletes from nine different sports | Not explicitly stated | 40 | 30:10 | Not stated |
| 14. Thatcher et al42 | Severe injury is classified as an injury that prevents an athlete from participating in practice/competition for more than 21 days | Competitive university athletes (karate, judo, field hockey) | Severe musculoskeletal injury including shoulder dislocation, knee ligament sprain, fracture of fibula | 3 | 1:2 | Not stated |
| 15. Carson and Polman43 | Injury occurred during match play leading to time loss | Professional rugby union athlete | ACL injury required surgical intervention | 1 | 1 male | Not stated |
| 16. Langford et al44 | Uncomplicated primary ACL reconstruction | Regularly competitive patient-athletes participating at least weekly prior to injury with intent to return to sport | ACL requiring surgical reconstruction (various grafts) | 87 | 55:32 | 27.48±5.72 |
| 17. Mankad et al45 | Injury was absence from sport participation for a minimum of 3 months | State or national level athletes from variety of sports that is, basketball, rugby league, gridiron, water polo and BMX racing | Severe musculoskeletal injuries including knee sprain, shoulder dislocation | 8 | 5:3 | 22.67±3.74 |
| 18. Podlog and Eklund46 | Athletes needed to have sustained an injury requiring a 2 months absence from sport-specific training and competition | High level amateur and semiprofessional athletes returning to play postinjury | Not explicitly stated | 12 | 7:5 | 18–28 |
| 19. Carsonand Polman47 | Not stated | Professional rugby union athletes | ACL injury required surgical intervention | 4 | 4 male | 18–27 |
| 20. Wadey et al48 | Injury sustained during training or competition leading to time loss | Club to national level athletes from rugby union, soccer, basketball | All lower extremity musculoskeletal including: sprain, fracture, dislocation, tendinopathy and strain | 10 | 10 male | 21.7±1.8 |
| 21. Ardern et al49 | ACL injury, and undergone reconstruction performed by the same surgeon | Regular competitive patient-athletes including: Australian football (29%), netball (19%), basketball (15%) and soccer (11%) | ACL requiring surgical reconstruction with hamstring graft | 209 | 121:88 | 31.7±9.7 |
| 22. Carson and Polman50 | Not stated | Professional rugby union athletes | ACL injury required surgical intervention | 5 | 5 male | Not stated |
| 23. Podlog et al51 | Current musculoskeletal injury requiring a minimum 1 month absence from sport participation | Elite level adolescent athletes from a variety of sport that is, Basketball, netball, soccer rowing, track and field | Musculoskeletal injury including sprain (ACL), dislocation (knee and shoulder), fractures (fibula, arm, lumbar spine), Achilles tendinopathy, bulging disc, Scheuermann’s disease | 11 | 3:8 | 15.3±1.55 |
| 24. Clement et al52 | Injury that had restricted their sport participation for a minimum of 6 weeks over the past year | NCAA Division II University athletes from mix of sports including: acrobatics/ tumbling (n=4), football (n=3), baseball (n=1) | Musculoskeletal injury including: ACL injury (n=3), fractures (n=3), rotator cuff repair (n=1), chondrocyte removal from elbow (n=1) | 8 | 4:4 | 18–22 |
| 25. Podlog et al53 | Injury was absence from sport participation for a minimum of 2 months | Mixed level (club-professional) athletes from rugby union (n=3), football (n=2), gymnastics (n=1), martial arts (n=1) | All lower extremity musculoskeletal injury including: fractures metatarsal/ankle (n=3), posterior cruciate ligament rupture (n=1), bruised bone (n=1), hamstring strain (n=1), Achilles tendon damage (n=1) | 7 | 4:3 | 21.9±3.8 |
ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; M:F, male:female; NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association.