title: Injuries in community-level Australian football: Results from a club-based injury surveillance system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Far fewer injury surveillance systems exist within community sport than elite sport. As a result, most epidemiological data on sports injuries have limited relevance to community-level sporting populations. There is potential for data from community club-based injury surveillance systems to provide a better understanding of community sports injuries. This study aimed to describe the incidence and profile of community-level Australian football injuries reported using a club-based injury surveillance system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, epidemiological study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sports trainers from five community-level Australian football leagues recorded injury data during two football seasons using the club-based system. An online surveillance tool developed by Sports Medicine Australia ('Sports Injury Tracker') was used for data collection. The injury incidence, profile and match injury rate were reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Injury data for 1205 players were recorded in season one and for 823 players in season two. There was significant variability in injury incidence across clubs. However, aggregated data were consistent across football seasons, with an average of 0.7 injuries per player per season and 38-39 match injuries per 1000 h match exposure. A large proportion of injuries occurred during matches, involved the lower limb and resulted from contact.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data from the club-based system provided a profile of injuries consistent with previous studies in community-level Australian football. Moreover, injury incidence was consistent with other studies using similar personnel to record data. However, injury incidence was lower than that reported in studies using player self-report or healthcare professionals and may be an underestimate of true values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Alfred Centre, Australia. Electronic address: christina.ekegren@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Christina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ekegren
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Alfred Centre, Australia.
authors.forename: Belinda J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Gabbe
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention, Federation University Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, School of Primary Health Care, Monash University, Australia.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention, Federation University Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Caroline F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Finch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016512:Ankle Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003288:Contusions / Q000453:epidemiology; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000293:injuries; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D013180:Sprains and Strains / Q000453:epidemiology; D013848:Thigh / Q000293:injuries; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Database; Epidemiology; Sports; Sports Injury Tracker; Sports trainers