High-level sports participation in Ireland resulted in an average of 1.17 acute and 0.93 overuse injuries per athlete per year, with 52 days lost to injury.
Cohort (n=324)
High-level Irish athletes experience significant time loss due to sports injuries, with overuse injuries causing more lost time than acute injuries.
The objectives of this study were to investigate the incidence of sports injuries in Ireland and to analyze various ways of quantifying the seriousness of these injuries. A 12-month, prospective study was carried out on 324 Irish athletes involved at a high level of sports participation in one of the following categories: endurance, contact, noncontact, or explosive sports. Results were expressed in four ways: 1) number of injuries per year; 2) days injured per year; 3) number of injuries per 10,000 hours of participation; and 4) duration of injury per 1000 hours of participation. The average athlete sustained 1.17 acute and 0.93 overuse injuries per year and suffered the effects of sports injury for 52 days. More time was lost through overuse injuries than acute injuries. The incidence of acute injuries per 10,000 hours of participation was lowest in the noncontact sports and highest in the contact sports, but there was no difference in the incidence of overuse injuries between any of the four categories of sport. The injury rate per 10,000 hours of participation was lowest in noncontact and explosive sports and highest in contact sports. However, when expressed in terms of days lost per 1000 hours of participation, endurance sports had the lowest incidence of time loss and explosive sports the highest.
Anthony Watson (Fri,) conducted a cohort in Sports injuries (n=324). High-level sports participation in Ireland resulted in an average of 1.17 acute and 0.93 overuse injuries per athlete per year, with 52 days lost to injury.