Injury Incidence, Risk Factors and Prevention in Australian Rules Football

Abstract

Along with the enjoyment and the other positive benefits of sport participation, there is also the risk of injury that is elevated in contact sport. This review provides a summary of injury incidence in Australian rules football (ARF), identifies injury risk factors, assesses the efficacy of interventions to reduce injury risk and makes recommendations for future research. The most common injuries were found to be muscle strains, particularly hamstrings; joint ligament sprains, especially ankle; haematomas and concussion. The most severe joint injury was anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Mouthguards are commonly worn and have been shown to reduce orofacial injury. There is evidence that thigh pads can reduce the incidence of thigh haematomas. There is a reluctance to wear padded headgear and an attempt to assess its effectiveness was unsuccessful due to low compliance. The most readily identified risk factor was a history of that injury. There were conflicting findings as to the influence strength imbalances or deficit has on hamstring injury risk in ARF. Static hamstring flexibility was not related to risk but low hip flexor/quadriceps flexibility increased hamstring injury risk. High lower-limb and high hamstring stiffness were associated with an elevated risk of hamstring injury. Since stiffness can be modulated through strength or flexibility training, this provides an area for future intervention studies. Low postural balance ability was related to a greater risk of ankle injury in ARF, players with poor balance should be targeted for balance training. There are preliminary data signifying a link between deficiencies in hip range of motion and hip adductor strength with groin pain or injury. This provides support for future investigation into the effectiveness of an intervention for high-risk players on groin injury rate. Low cross-sectional area of core-region muscle has been associated with more severe injuries and a motor control exercise intervention that increased core muscle size and function resulted in fewer games missed due to injury. A randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of eccentric hamstring exercise in decreasing hamstring injury rate in ARF players was unsuccessful due to poor compliance from muscle soreness; a progressive eccentric training intervention for ARF should be given future consideration. Jump and landing training reduced injury risk in junior ARF players and it would be advisable to include this component as part of a neuromuscular training intervention. A multifaceted programme of sport-specific drills for hamstring flexibility while fatigued, sport skills that load the hamstrings and high-intensity interval training to mimic match playing conditions showed some success in reducing the incidence of hamstring injuries in ARF. A countermeasure designed to reduce injury risk is more likely to be adopted by coaches and players if it also has the scope to enhance performance.

Sleep patterns and injury occurrence in elite Australian footballers

“…There were 8 intrinsic and 1 extrinsic injury recorded in the data set, with 6 6 injuries of moderate severity and 3 of high severity. The sites injured were lower leg (2), thigh (2), 7 hip/groin (2), ankle (2) and forearm (1). A main effect for time is also indicated in Table 1, showing 8 that sleep duration and efficiency were slightly but significantly greater (p<0.05) at T2 than T1.…”

How do training and competition workloads relate to injury? The workload—injury aetiology model

“…Athletic injuries are common in a variety of sports,1 2 compromising performance,3–5 posing a financial burden to organisations,6 and potentially causing long-term health consequences 7. The causes for these injuries are numerous, highlighted by a number of multifactorial injury aetiology models 8–10.…”

Association of Physical Inactivity, Weight, Smoking, and Prior Injury on Physical Performance in a Military Setting

“…However, obvious performance decrements provide an opportunity to link health and injury risk-mitigation strategies with enhanced performance, which has been suggested to be a more effective way to encourage compliance with health-promotion and injuryprevention programs. 20 Higher BMI values were associated with decreased performance on 7 of the 8 performance tests, whereas self-reported smoking, physical inactivity, and prior history of injury were associated with decreased performance on 6, 5, and 4 of the 8 tests, respectively. The negative association of smoking, BMI, physical inactivity, and past history of injury with current physical performance identified in this study highlights the potential need for a multifactorial and interdisciplinary approach to programs focused on human performance optimization and injury prevention in occupational settings.…”

“…9,15 Although there is limited research investigating the association of health risk factors with occupational or physical performance, Leyk et al 19 studied 10-to 25-year olds and found that even a single risk factor (weight, smoking status, or physical activity level) associated with an unhealthy lifestyle could impair physical performance. Other researchers 20 have suggested that risk-mitigation strategies may result in improved compliance if the strategy can also enhance performance. Based on the need to better understand the association between health risk factors and physical performance in a military setting, the primary purpose of our study was to determine if health risk factors (inactivity, increased body mass, smoking, and a history of injury) were associated with a broad range of physical performance measures, including aerobic endurance, strength, power, functional movement, balance, and core stability in a military population.…”