Hickey, Jack and Shield, Anthony J and Williams, Morgan D and Opar, David A
(2013)
The financial cost of hamstring strain injuries in the Australian Football League.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48 (8).
pp. 729-730.
ISSN 0306-3674
Abstract
Background Hamstring strain injuries (HSIs) have
remained the most prevalent injury in the Australian
Football League (AFL) over the past 21 regular seasons.
The effect of HSIs in sports is often expressed as regular
season games missed due to injury. However, the financial
cost of athletes missing games due to injury has not been
investigated. The aim of this report is to estimate the
financial cost of games missed due to HSIs in the AFL.
Method Data were collected using publicly available
information from the AFL’s injury report and the official
AFL annual report for the past 10 competitive AFL seasons.
Average athlete salary and injury epidemiology data were
used to determine the average yearly financial cost of HSIs
for AFL clubs and the average financial cost of a single HSI
over this time period.
Results Across the observed period, average yearly
financial cost of HSIs per club increased by 71% compared
with a 43% increase in average yearly athlete salary. Over
the same time period the average financial cost of a single
HSI increased by 56% from $A25 603 in 2003 to
$A40 021 in 2012, despite little change in the HSI rates
during the period.
Conclusions The observed increased financial cost of
HSIs was ultimately explained by the failure of teams to
decrease HSI rates, but coupled with increases in athlete
salaries over the past 10 season. The information
presented in this report highlights the financial cost of HSIs
and other sporting injuries, raising greater awareness and
the need for further funding for research into injury
prevention strategies to maximise economical return for
investment in athletes.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
financial cost; hamstring strain injuries; Australian Football League; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Sports Science and Nutrition |
| Item ID: |
17918 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-092884 |
| Depositing User: |
Jack Hickey
|
| Date Deposited: |
08 Dec 2023 15:01 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
British Journal of Sports Medicine |
| Publisher: |
BMJ Publishing Group |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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