COVID crushed sports injuries as teams and players were relegated to the sidelines during lockdowns and social distancing, but with the pandemic now pushed to the back of people’s minds, hospitalisations from sporting injuries have soared.
According to a new report from the AIHW, in 2020-21, 66,500 Australians were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained while playing sport – an increase of 14,200 (27%) compared with the previous year, with the total number of injury hospitalisations largely in line with pre-COVID trends.
The report, Sports injuries in Australia (released 14 June 2023) showed that over half of all hospitalisations for sporting injuries in 2020-21 were for fractures, most commonly a fractured arm or shoulder, and less than 5% of all injuries resulted in a concussion.
AIHW spokesperson Dr Heather Swanston highlighted that cycling accounted for the highest number of sports injury hospitalisations in 2020-21, with 9,800 injury hospitalisations – up from 8,000 in 2019-20 – an increase of 35 injury hospitalisations per week.
“Unlike many other sports, there was a rise in the number of cycling injuries in 2019-20 and 2020-21, which may reflect increased participation rates in solo sports with the onset of COVID that has continued with the lifting of restrictions,” Dr Swanston said.
However, when ranked according to injuries accrued per 100,000 participants, in 2020-21, rugby, wheeled motor sports, roller sports and equestrian activities had the highest injury hospitalisation rates (per 100,000 participants aged 15 and over) of all sports.
In terms of participation rates, rugby codes and wheeled motor sports had the highest rates of injuries requiring hospitalisation, each with 1,200 injury hospitalisations per 100,000 participants aged 15 and over.
Date of admission data from four years of sports injuries suggested that admissions for males showed a rise during the winter sport season and a dip in the summer months, with injuries according to code peaking during their traditional season.
In 2022, for the first time, the AusPlay survey, administered by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), asked participants in sports and physical activities if they had been injured while participating and the results gave the estimated number of injuries and rate of injury per participant for various categories of sport or activity.
According to the survey, 18.3 million Australians aged 18 and over (about 9 in 10 respondents) played sport or took part in physical activity at least once during 2022, and the highest rate of reported injury per participant was for the outdoor team sports category, with about a quarter of participants (26%) injured in 2022.
AFL saw 480 hospitalisations for concussion – 365 male and 115 female. The head or neck was the main body part injured in just over a quarter of cases (26%), followed by the leg or hip (23%), primarily caused by colliding with another player.
This compares with 460 hospitalisations of rugby players for concussion – 390 male and 73 female. The main injury was most often to the head or neck (29%), followed by the leg or hip (25%), and was caused by falls involving another person, followed by contact with another player.
Combat sports saw about 16% of participants injured, closely followed by indoor team sports, motor, and horse sports each with about 15% injured.
The report did not include information on people who sought treatment at hospital EDs, general practitioner clinics, sports medicine centres, or from other practitioners such as physiotherapists, and the ASC is working with the AIHW to implement a National Sports Injury Data Strategy, including a framework to support sports injury data collection.