Demographic characteristics
| Study | Criteria for definition of injury | Population | Description of injury type(s) | Subject number | Sex (M:F) | Age (year); mean (SD) | Time to final follow-up (months) | Return to sport rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossman et al18 | Injuries medically diagnosed as moderate severity resulting in 1–8 weeks missed playing time | Canadian football or hockey players from high school, club or semi-professional level | Primarily joint sprains and muscle strains | 30 | 30 : 0 | 20.1 | Not reported | 100 |
| de Heredia et al14 | Recent injury (occurring up to 1 day prior to presentation for medical assessment), medically diagnosed as moderately serious or serious | Spanish senior amateur soccer players presenting to a single sports medicine clinic | Not reported | 20 | Not reported | Range=18–35 | Not reported | 100 |
| Glazer19 | Sustained athletic injury resulting in at least 1 week missed practice | College varsity athletes (NCAA Div II or III) | Not reported | 22 | 18 : 4 | 19.7 (1.4) (range=18–22) | Not reported | 100 |
| Gobbi and Francisco20 | ACL injury diagnosed by surgeon, athletes underwent ACL reconstruction surgery | Non-professional athletes playing competitive regional or national level sport; or playing recreational sport at least 3 times per week | ACL injury | 100 | 67 : 33 | 28 (range=17–50) | 24 | 65 |
| Johnson21 | Unable to train for or compete in previous sport for minimum 5 weeks due to injury | Swedish national or international competitive athletes treated at one of two sport injury centres in southern Sweden | Knee or foot/ankle injuries | 12 | 5 : 7 | 24.2 | 36 | 42 |
| Langford et al22 | ACL injury diagnosed by surgeon, athletes underwent ACL reconstruction surgery | Athletes competing in competitive sport weekly prior to injury | ACL injury | 87 | 55 : 32 | 27.5 (5.7) (range=18–40) | 12 | 51 |
| Podlog and Eklund16 | Minimum 2 months of participation lost due to injury | Athletes competing at international, national, Canadian Inter-university sport, state, provincial and professional levels | Not reported | 180 | 117 : 63 | 25 (5.2) (range=18–44) | 33 | 100 |
| Podlog et al15 | Minimum 2 months of participation lost due to injury | Athletes competing at professional, international, national or intercollegiate levels in Australia, Canada and the USA | Not reported | 204 | 138 : 66 | 21.75 (2.9) (range=18–36) | 27 | 100 |
| Smith et al23 | Injury sustained as a consequence of participating in exercise, sports, or a game. Activity restricted beyond 1 day after injury (American Medical Association definition) | Athletes presenting to the Section of Sports Medicine at the Mayo Clinic for treatment | Primarily sprains, strains, fractures and cartilage injuries to the knee, leg, shoulder and foot | 72 | 49 : 23 | Mode=16 (range=12–54) | 6 | 100 |
| Smith et al25 | Injury occurred as a consequence of participating in sports, exercise, or a game. Activity restricted beyond 1 day after injury (American Medical Association definition) | Athletes competing at high school varsity/junior varsity team, US Hockey League junior team, Division I college team or National Hockey League minor league team | Muscle strains, joint sprains, fractures, dislocations, contusions | 36 | 31 : 5 | Not reported | Not reported | 100 |
| Webster et al24 | ACL injury diagnosed by surgeon, athletes underwent ACL reconstruction surgery | Athletes participating in sport (any) weekly prior to injury | ACL injury | 220 | 124 :96 | 29.2 (9.7) (range=16–54) | 12 (range=8–22) | 40 |
ACL,anterior cruciate ligament; M:F, male:female.