Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and associated risk factors for injury among university student rugby players
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: Specific features of university student rugby players and the tournaments they compete in may involve epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and associated risk factors that differ from other populations. To date, this has not been studied. Aim of the study: To determine the epidemiology, clinical characteristics of and the associated risk factors for rugby-related injuries in university student rugby players. Design: Prospective cohort study Setting: Rugby teams (Young Guns [YG] and Varsity Cup [VC] representing the University of Pretoria (UP) in the Varsity Rugby tournament. Participants: 171 male university student rugby players. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted over two consecutive rugby seasons (2018/19 and 2019/20). Male student rugby players at UP that were included in the YG and VC squads, were followed over a total period of 35 weeks (2018/19: 18 weeks, 2019/20: 17 weeks). The two squads were comprised of a total of 179 players over the two-year period, where 171 players gave consent for study participation. Baseline data were collected at the beginning of pre-season preparations. These included player’s age, playing position and highest level of representation, and completion of injury history and medical history questionnaires. Medical staff affiliated with the teams recorded all training and match time-loss injuries during preseason and in-competition period. Data are reported as the incidence (injuries per 1 000 player-hours: 95% CI) of time-loss rugby-related injuries, injured player proportion (%), frequency (% of injuries) of injury characteristics and injury severity grade (time loss) for training and match injuries. These outcome measures are reported for anatomical region, body area, tissue type, pathology type, and mechanism of injury. The relative risk (RR) of injury was calculated for potential risk factors (participant demographics [age groups], rugby specific information [level of competition, playing position, h…
abstract: Background: Specific features of university student rugby players and the tournaments they compete in may involve epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and associated risk factors that differ from other populations. To date, this has not been studied. Aim of the study: To determine the epidemiology, clinical characteristics of and the associated risk factors for rugby-related injuries in university student rugby players. Design: Prospective cohort study Setting: Rugby teams (Young Guns [YG] and Varsity Cup [VC] representing the University of Pretoria (UP) in the Varsity Rugby tournament. Participants: 171 male university student rugby players. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted over two consecutive rugby seasons (2018/19 and 2019/20). Male student rugby players at UP that were included in the YG and VC squads, were followed over a total period of 35 weeks (2018/19: 18 weeks, 2019/20: 17 weeks). The two squads were comprised of a total of 179 players over the two-year period, where 171 players gave consent for study participation. Baseline data were collected at the beginning of pre-season preparations. These included player’s age, playing position and highest level of representation, and completion of injury history and medical history questionnaires. Medical staff affiliated with the teams recorded all training and match time-loss injuries during preseason and in-competition period. Data are reported as the incidence (injuries per 1 000 player-hours: 95% CI) of time-loss rugby-related injuries, injured player proportion (%), frequency (% of injuries) of injury characteristics and injury severity grade (time loss) for training and match injuries. These outcome measures are reported for anatomical region, body area, tissue type, pathology type, and mechanism of injury. The relative risk (RR) of injury was calculated for potential risk factors (participant demographics [age groups], rugby specific information [level of competition, playing position, h…
language: en
keywords: UCTD, University student rugby, Epidemiology, clinical characteristics and risk factors for injury, Physiotherapy
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:52:50Z
provider: University of Pretoria
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Pretoria

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78438