Epidemiological studies of injuries in rugby league: Suggestions for definitions, data collection and reporting methods

Summary

Studies on rugby league injuries use a variety of definitions and methodologies. Consequently, comparisons of published studies are difficult. Researchers with an interest in understanding the epidemiology of rugby league injury participated in a majority agreement process. This paper provides suggestions for the definitions, data collection and reporting methods for future studies of rugby league injuries. The proposed methods and definitions were developed through the use of a majority agreement process on draft versions by all authors. Recommended definitions for injury incidence, recurrence, severity and match exposure are provided as well as injury site, type, diagnosis and causation. Suggestions for match and training injury incidence calculations are also provided for the purposes of comparison. This paper provides standard definitions that, if utilised, will enable meaningful comparison of future rugby league injury surveillance data from different countries and playing levels.

Introduction

Studies on the incidence of sporting injuries have varied in two main areas. These variations are (1) the definitions utilised and (2) the methodologies undertaken.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 As a consequence of these variations between studies, the results and conclusions obtained often have some important differences.1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 A fundamental process, and typically the first step behind the injury prevention process, is ongoing injury surveillance.1, 4, 10, 11 However, inter-study comparisons may prove to be difficult due to the inconsistencies in the injury definitions utilised.

Studies on the incidence of injuries in rugby league have suffered from inconsistencies in the injury definitions utilised. As a result of these inconsistencies, comparison and determination of the injury incidence may be difficult to undertake.5, 12 Variations reported in injury incidence are often the result of data obtained from a relatively small numbers of players and teams13, 14 and, often over a limited time frame.¹²

Undertaking long term studies and incorporating data collection from several teams increases the sample size and may assist in reducing any random error that may occur.¹⁵ In addition, the use of a similar injury definition aids in inter-study comparisons. In a similar fashion to other professional sporting codes,10, 16 the purpose of this paper was to address this problem by establishing definitions, methodology and reporting standards that may be adopted for the reporting of injuries in rugby league enabling comparison between future studies.