Abstract
In the general population, physical activity is associated with improved health outcomes. However, long-term sports participation may be associated with adverse outcomes, particularly at the elite level. The aims of this study were to assess morbidity and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) amongst former rugby players, compared to an age-standardised general population sample. A cross-sectional study of former elite, male, rugby players (n = 259) was undertaken, and standardised morbidity ratios (SMR) calculated, assessing morbidity prevalence relative to English Longitudinal Study of Aging participants (ELSA, n = 5186). HrQoL, measured using the EQ-5D, was compared to a Health Survey for England (HSE, n = 2981) sample. In SMR analyses of participants aged 50+, diabetes was significantly lower amongst former players, (0.28, 95% CI 0.11–0.66), whereas osteoarthritis (4.00, 95% CI 3.32–4.81), joint replacement (6.02, 95% CI 4.66–7.77), osteoporosis (2.69, 95% CI 1.35–5.38), and anxiety (2.00, 95% CI 1.11–3.61) were significantly higher. More problems in HrQoL were reported amongst former players within the domains of mobility (p < 0.001), self-care (p = 0.041), usual activities (p < 0.001) and pain/discomfort (p < 0.001). Morbidity and HrQoL differ between players and the general population, with higher musculoskeletal morbidity and lower diabetes amongst former players. The magnitude of musculoskeletal morbidity may warrant proactive osteoarthritis management within this population.
Highlights
Despite the known benefits of exercise and physical activity[1], there is an increasing focus on the potential for contact sports such as rugby union to be detrimental to physical and neurological health and wellbeing[2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
A recent meta-analysis suggested that injury incidence (>8 days timeloss) during match-play is higher in senior rugby union (81 injuries/1000 hours, 95% CI, 63–105)[12], when compared to semi-professional, (22/1000 hours, amateur (17/1000 hours, 95% CI, 15–18) and recreational levels of play (14/1000 hours, 95% CI, 13–16)[13]
The injury incidence within popular non-contact participation sports of elite football and cricket has been reported as 8.0 and 2.7 injuries per 1000 match hours, respectively[14,15]. The impact of this higher injury incidence in rugby union on longer-term morbidity and health-related quality of life has not been established to date
Summary
Despite the known benefits of exercise and physical activity[1], there is an increasing focus on the potential for contact sports such as rugby union to be detrimental to physical and neurological health and wellbeing[2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The injury incidence within popular non-contact participation sports of elite football and cricket has been reported as 8.0 and 2.7 injuries per 1000 match hours, respectively[14,15]. The impact of this higher injury incidence in rugby union on longer-term morbidity and health-related quality of life has not been established to date. The aims of this study were to establish: (1) the prevalence of morbidity and measure health-related quality of life within a cohort of former elite, male, rugby players, and (2) to quantify differences in morbidity between this sporting population and a representative age-standardised (50years+) general population comparator group
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