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Cumulative sport‑related injuries and longer term impact in retired male elite‑ and amateur‑level rugby code athletes and non‑contact athletes : a retrospective study

Hind, Karen; Konerth, Natalie; Entwistle, Ian; Lewis, Gwyn; Theadam, Alice; Chazot, Paul

Cumulative sport‑related injuries and longer term impact in retired male elite‑ and amateur‑level rugby code athletes and non‑contact athletes : a retrospective study Thumbnail


Authors

Karen Hind

Natalie Konerth natalie.m.konerth@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Ian Entwistle ian.entwistle@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Gwyn Lewis

Alice Theadam



Abstract

Background: Rugby union and rugby league are popular team contact sports, but they bring a high risk of injury. Although previous studies have reported injury occurrence across one or several seasons, none have explored the total number of injuries sustained across an entire career. As the first to do so, the aim of this study was to report on cumulative injuries and their perceived long-term impact in retired rugby code athletes compared to athletes from non-contact sports. Methods: One hundred and eighty-nine former rugby code athletes (rugby union n = 145; rugby league n = 44) and 65 former non-contact athletes were recruited to the UK Rugby Health Project between September 2016 and December 2018. Details on sports participation, sports injuries and concussion history, sports injury-related surgeries, and previous and current health were obtained from a validated, online self-report questionnaire. Results: Former elite rugby code athletes (n = 83) reported more total injuries per player (median 39, IQR 35) than former amateur rugby code athletes (n = 106; median 23, IQR 30; p = 0.014) and non-contact sports athletes (n = 65; median 7.5, IQR 15; p < 0.001). Concussion was the most frequently reported injury for the elite and amateur rugby code groups, followed by upper/lower back and knee ligament injuries. These injuries also presented with the highest recurrence. Rugby code groups reported a higher continued impact of previous concussion, neck injuries, shoulder dislocation, ACL tears, and knee ligament injuries (p = 0.003–0.045). The reported prevalence of osteoarthritis was more than twofold greater in the elite rugby code group than in non-contact athletes (51% v 22%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of back pain and/or severe and regular joint pain was high across all groups (47–80%), particularly the elite rugby code group. The total number of joint injuries and sport injury-related surgeries was higher in those who reported current osteoarthritis and current severe and regular joint pain (p < 0.001–p = 0.028). Conclusion: Across multiple injury types, past participation in rugby union and rugby league, particularly at elite level, is associated with a high cumulative injury load and a continued impact of previous injuries post-retirement. Given the high number of reported concussions (and their recurrence) and associations between previous injuries during a player’s career and current musculoskeletal conditions, efforts should be prioritized to reduce the occurrence and recurrence of injuries in rugby codes at all levels of the sport. Strategies should also be developed for supporting the specific physical health needs of rugby code athletes post-retirement.

Citation

Hind, K., Konerth, N., Entwistle, I., Lewis, G., Theadam, A., & Chazot, P. (2020). Cumulative sport‑related injuries and longer term impact in retired male elite‑ and amateur‑level rugby code athletes and non‑contact athletes : a retrospective study. Sports Medicine, 50(11), 2051-2061. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01310-y

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 12, 2020
Online Publication Date Jul 16, 2020
Publication Date 2020-11
Deposit Date Jun 15, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Sports Medicine
Print ISSN 0112-1642
Electronic ISSN 1179-2035
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 50
Issue 11
Pages 2051-2061
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01310-y

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Fact Sheet This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.







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