Aussie Rules tops sporting injury list
Fractures are the most common hospitalised sports injury, and playing football (including AFL, soccer, and rugby) is the most likely way you’ll get one, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Hospitalised sports injury, Australia 2002-03, looks at sports injuries that were serious enough to result in hospital admission, and which sports were responsible for most injuries.
Associate Professor James Harrison of the AIHW’s National Injury Surveillance Unit said: “The report groups sports by general type and similar physical activity, for example, football, water sports, cycling, and roller-sports, but also looks at more than 40 specific sports that resulted in enough hospitalised injury cases to warrant some separate reporting.”
Football was the sport in which the largest number of injuries occurred, with 12,600 total cases. Nearly 4000 of these injuries happened playing Australian Rules, over 3200 playing soccer and over 1600 in rugby league.
Sports with the largest numbers of hospitalised injury cases in relation to numbers of participants were wheeled motor sports, roller sports, Australian Rules football, equestrian pursuits and rugby league.
The institute says that in 2002-03 there were 45,452 people admitted to hospital as inpatients in Australia because of injury during sport or similar activity. Over a third (14,218) of these were children aged less than 15 years.
While similar numbers of male and female Australians aged 15 years and older participated in sport and exercise recreation, nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of people hospitalised due to sports injury were males.
Sports and similar activities with the smallest numbers of hospitalised injury cases in relation to numbers of participants were walking and running.
