Abstract
It has previously been shown that being of aboriginal descent is a risk factor for hamstring injuries in Australian football. The aim of this study was to review the Australian Football League (AFL) injury database to determine whether there were any injuries where indigenous players had different relative risks to non-indigenous players. Analysis was conducted using data from the AFL injury database, which included data from 4,492 players over 21 years (1992–2012), covering 162,683 player-matches at AFL level, 91,098 matches at lower levels and 328,181 weeks (possible matches) of exposure. Compared to non-indigenous players, indigenous players had a significantly higher risk of hamstring injuries (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.32–1.73) and calf strains (RR 1.30, 95% CI 1.00–1.69). Conversely, indigenous players had a significantly lower risk of lumbar/thoracic spine injuries (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41–0.91), groin strains/osteitis pubis (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.58–0.96) and Achilles tendon injuries (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.12–0.86). The results for the above injuries were also significant in terms of games missed. There was no difference between overall risk of injury (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.96–1.10) or missed games (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97–1.04). This suggests that indigenous AFL players have the same overall number of injuries and missed games, but a slightly different injury profile.
Highlights
There is a sizeable health gap that exists in Australia between indigenous and non-indigenous people
Indigenous players were listed for 7% of the “player seasons” over this time period which indicates that the average indigenous player had a slightly longer Australian Football League (AFL) career than the average non-indigenous player
Level and 5,135 matches at lower levels, compared to 149,527 matches at AFL level and 85,963 matches at lower level for non-indigenous players. This suggests that indigenous players were over-represented at AFL level
Summary
There is a sizeable health gap that exists in Australia between indigenous (aboriginal) and non-indigenous people. This gap applies to injuries, with aboriginal people recording higher rates of transport injuries [1], higher rates of hospitalisation for burn injuries [2] and higher rates of intentional and unintentional injuries [3]. Aboriginal people often have worse outcomes from their injuries [4]. The explanation for this gap is likely to be multi-factorial. Geography is likely to play a role as aboriginal people generally live in more remote areas [1], roads are worse and access to medical services is more limited. Socio-economic status is likely to play a role, as it does in so many health outcomes
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