Does long-distance air travel associated with the Sevens World Series increase players' risk of injury?
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether players who cross ≥6 time zones and/or undertake ≥10 h air travel prior to competition experience a higher risk of injury during the Sevens World Series than players not required to undertake this level of travel.


METHODS
Five-year, prospective, cohort study.


METHODS
All players from nine core teams competing in the Sevens World Series from 2008/2009 to 2013/2014.


RESULTS
A total of 436 match injuries and 3363 player-match-hours of exposure were recorded in the study, which corresponds to an overall incidence of 129.6 injuries/1000 player-match-hours, irrespective of the nature of pretournament travel. The incidence of injury for those players crossing ≥6 time zones and undertaking ≥10 h air travel prior to competition (99.3 injuries/1000 player-match-hours) was significantly lower than that of players undertaking ≥10 h air travel but crossing ≤2 time zones prior to competition (148.8 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.003) and of those undertaking ≤3 h air travel and crossing ≤2 time zones prior to competition (146.4 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.004). There was no significant difference in the incidence of injury for players crossing ≤2 time zones in the week prior to competition, irrespective of whether the length of air travel was ≤3 h or ≥10 h (p=0.904). Precompetition air travel had no significant effect (p=0.879) on the performance of teams in terms of their final Tournament ranking positions.


CONCLUSIONS
There was no evidence to suggest that players were exposed to a greater risk of injury following extensive air travel and crossing multiple time zones prior to Tournaments in the Sevens World Series.
World Rugby, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Colin W
CW
Fuller
World Rugby, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Aileen E
AE
Taylor
World Rugby, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Martin
M
Raftery
D000328:Adult; D064870:Air Travel; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000209:etiology; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Fatigue; Injuries; Jet lag; Rugby; Travel