Priorities for investment in injury prevention in community Australian football.
OBJECTIVE
High-quality sport-specific information about the nature, type, cause, and frequency of injuries is needed to set injury prevention priorities. This article describes the type, nature, and mechanism of injuries in community Australian Football (community AF) players, as collected through field-based monitoring of injury in teams of players.


METHODS
Compilation of published prospectively collected injury data from 3 studies in junior community AF (1202 injuries in 1950+ players) and 3 studies in adult community AF (1765 injuries in 2265 players). This was supplemented with previously unpublished data from the most recent adult community AF injury cohort study conducted in 2007 to 2008. Injuries were ranked according to most common body regions, nature of injury, and mechanism.


RESULTS
In all players, lower limb injuries were the most frequent injury in community AF and were generally muscle strains, joint sprains, and superficial injuries. These injuries most commonly resulted from incidental contact with other players, or from "overexertion." Upper limb injuries were less common but included fractures, strains, and sprains that were generally caused by incidental contact between players and the result of players falling to the ground.


CONCLUSIONS
Lower limb injuries are common in community AF and could have an adverse impact on sustained participation in the game. Based on what is known about their mechanisms, it is likely that a high proportion of lower limb injuries could be prevented and they should therefore be a priority for injury prevention in community AF.
*Centre for Healthy and Safe Sport, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia; †Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ‡Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; §School of Health Sciences, University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia; ¶School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia; and ‖Department of Physiotherapy, School of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Caroline F
CF
Finch
Belinda
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Gabbe
Peta
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White
David
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Lloyd
Dara
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Twomey
Alex
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Donaldson
Bruce
B
Elliott
Jill
J
Cook
D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000293:injuries