Rugby league injuries in New Zealand: a review of 8 years of Accident Compensation Corporation injury entitlement claims and costs

Abstract

Injury prevention programmes for rugby league should focus on reducing the risk of concussion/brain injury and knee and soft tissue injury, and should target participants in the 20-30 years old age range. More longitudinal epidemiological studies with specific details on injury mechanisms and participation data are warranted to further identify the injury circumstances surrounding participation in rugby league activities.

The economic burden of time-loss injuries to youth players participating in week-long rugby union tournaments

“…However, injury sites were not corrected for the possible confounding effect of injury type -therefore we cannot exclude the possibility that the significantly higher average cost of fractures (Table 2) could have influenced the mean cost of injury sites in the present study. The finding of higher average costs of fractures, in comparison to other injury sites in the present study was also in contrast with a rugby league report of all ages 18 and study on knee injuries in Swiss youth sports. 19 The average cost of fractures in the present study (US$2609) was also over 5 times greater than in the rugby league study (US$469).…”

“…The higher average costs of upper extremity injuries in comparison to lower extremity injuries was unexpected and in contrast to what has been found in rugby league players of all ages, 18 but was not dissimilar to general physical activity and sport injuries in children aged 10-12 years. 8 The costs for both of these sites (upper and lower extremity) were greater in the present study than in that of rugby league players that involved all ages and both sexes.…”

“…19 The average cost of fractures in the present study (US$2609) was also over 5 times greater than in the rugby league study (US$469). 18 The relatively low average cost of head/neck injuries and, specifically, concussions in the present study (US$358) ( Table 2) is surprising and in less than 70 times the cost in the rugby league study of all ages in New Zealand (US$25 347). 18 Rugby league has comparable rates of concussion to rugby union and thus this difference could not be explained by injury rates between the two sports ( Table 1).…”

“…7 However, only players with time-loss injuries who actively sought medical treatment above and beyond what was already provided at the rugby tournament were included in the present study, so this finding was not surprising. Also, the average cost per follow-up injury in the present study (US$731) was about ten times less than moderate to serious injuries reported for rugby league between 1999 and 2007 (US$7100), 18 although the rugby league study included players of all ages, not just youth.…”

Sport and exercise as contributors to the health of nations

“…35 In New Zealand, injuries from rugby league generated NZ$5·3 million (£2·7 million) in insurance claims per year. 36 Some researchers provide injury-specific costs related to sport that add to our understanding of injury burden without specification of which sports contributed. Ankle injuries cost €187 million (£156 million) per year in the Netherlands.…”