E-Thesis 26 views 9 downloads
Evaluation of Injury Nature, Frequency, Mechanism and Population Demographics from a Global Women's Rugby Survey / GEORGE WELLS
Swansea University Author: GEORGE WELLS
Abstract
The unprecedented increase in female participation in sports, particularly rugby union, necessitates a thorough comprehension of injury risks specific to female athletes. Traditionally, sports and exercise research has centred around males, leading to the development of insights and guidelines deriv...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2024
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Research |
| Degree name: | MSc by Research |
| Supervisor: | Williams, Elisabeth |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68268 |
| Abstract: |
The unprecedented increase in female participation in sports, particularly rugby union, necessitates a thorough comprehension of injury risks specific to female athletes. Traditionally, sports and exercise research has centred around males, leading to the development of insights and guidelines derived from male-centric data being applied to female athletes. This approach has resulted in a lack of customised injury prevention strategies for female athletes, despite well-documented influence of biological, anatomical, and physiological sex differences on sports performance, injury mechanisms, and risk. Existing literature has already demonstrated that females face a heightened risk of head-neck and knee injuries due to variations in underlying anatomy, biomechanics, and endocrinology. To address this data gap, this study aimed to collect data on the injury incidence, type, and location within a global female rugby population. Individual variables including height, body mass, starting age, experience, competition level, and playing position were also investigated as potential injury riskfactors. This was done to identify areas of future focus for the development of effectivefemale-specific injury prevention strategies. An open, cross-sectional global survey for women rugby union players was published in 2020, with a maximum of 149 single and short answer questions. Data collected from the responses provided were then assessed and professionally translated to bestatistically analysed. This study focused on responses relating to anthropometrics, starting age, experience, highest level of competition, and playing position and how these may affect the self-reported injuries that were included in the participant’s responses. Whilst also trying to build an overall picture for the injury profiles of female athletes.A total of 1,594 participants from 62 countries completed the survey overall (age 27± 6 years; height 1.66 ± 0.07 m; body mass 74 ± 15 kg). Of the 1594 participants, 1465 were deemed to have met the injury response criteria and were subsequently included in the analysis. 6,829 injuries were reported and classified into 147 different injury types. The top five most frequently reported injuries accounting for 48.7% of the total injury incidence, with ankle sprains, concussion, finger, and nose fractures, and then ACL tears collating the top five most reported injuries. |
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| Keywords: |
Sports, Rugby, Females, Concussion, Injury, ACL |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |