Epidemiology of basketball and netball injuries that resulted in hospital admission in Australia, 2000-2004.
OBJECTIVE
To characterise injuries sustained in basketball and netball that result in hospital admission and to compare the profiles of injury between the two sports.


METHODS
Population-based retrospective descriptive epidemiological study using data from the National Hospital Morbidity Database, July 2000 to June 2004.


METHODS
Patients discharged from a public or private hospital with basketball or netball codes as the "activity when injured".


RESULTS
There were 5090 basketball-related hospital admissions (mean patient age, 22.2 [SD, 10.7] years; 71.5% male) and 4596 netball-related admissions (mean patient age, 26.3 [SD, 10.9] years; 88.9% female). Fractures were the most common injury (46.8% [2384] of basketball-related and 29.5% [1358] of netball-related admissions), with the forearm and hand or wrist the most common fracture sites. The participant-based forearm fracture hospitalisation rate (5 + years age group) peaked in the 5-14-years age group. Anterior cruciate ligament rupture was the most common diagnosis, accounting for 760 (16.5%) netball-related admissions (mean [SD] age, 26.7 [8.4] years) and 354 (7.0%) basketball-related admissions (mean age, 25.5 [7.9] years). Achilles tendon injury accounted for 732 (15.9%) netball-related admissions (mean age, 35.2 [7.5] years) and 381 (7.5%) basketball-related admissions (mean age, 35.8 [7.8] years).


CONCLUSIONS
The high rates of anterior cruciate ligament rupture and Achilles tendon injury resulting in hospital admission and their long-term consequences impact extensively on the individual and the community. The common injuries sustained in basketball and netball were strongly age-related.
Flood
Louise
L
Research Centre for Injury Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Louise.Flood@flinders.edu.au
Harrison
James E
JE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001490:Basketball / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult