The epidemiology of injury and illness at the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019: an observational study

Background: Netball is a physical game with sudden direction changes, decelerations, jumping and landing, stop/start maneuvers and restrictive footwork rules exposing players to injury. Close contact play and shared facilities during tournaments, increase illness risk.Objective: To describe incidence, period prevalence, types and severity of injuries and illnesses during the 10-day Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 (NWC).Methods: All players from 16 teams consented (n = 192). Medical staff recorded injuries (840 exposure hours), illnesses (1440 player-days) and time-loss. Main outcome measures included incidence (I) calculated as injury/1000 player-hours and illness/1000 player-days, period prevalence (PP) and severity (time-loss) of all match injuries and illnesses.Results: 39 players sustained 46 match injuries (I = 54.76; PP = 20.31%). Lower limb injuries (I = 29.76), specifically the ankle (I = 13.10) were most common with lateral ankle ligament sprains the highest (I = 17.39). Contact injuries (I = 40.48) significantly exceeded non-contact injuries (I = 14.29; p = 0.0124). Center players sustained most injuries (n = 12; 26%; I = 14.29), followed by goalkeepers (n = 10; 22%; I = 11.90) and goal defenders (n = 8; 17%; I = 9.52). Injuries occurred in almost 50% of matches, and 67% did not result in time-loss. Time-loss injuries (n = 14; 33%) were most frequent in the lower limb (n = 10; 71%) specifically involved lateral ankle ligaments (n = 4; 29%), attributable to contact (n = 11; 79%) and mostly implicated center players and goal defenders (n = 4 each; 29% each). 11 players contracted 11 illnesses (I = 7.64; PP = 5.72%) with respiratory tract illness contributing 36%. Most illnesses did not result in time-loss (91%).Conclusion: This is the first study reporting injury and illness during an NWC. Contact was the main mechanism of injury, and 2/3 of injuries did not result in time-loss. The ankle is most commonly injured and center players sustain most injuries. Non-respiratory system disease was most frequent, but upper respiratory tract infection remains the most common diagnosis. Targeted surveillance studies using similar methodology are required to develop injury and illness preventative strategies in elite netball.