Sport-related concussions in New Zealand: A review of 10years of Accident Compensation Corporation moderate to severe claims and costs

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the epidemiology of sport-related concussion and associated costs in New Zealand requiring medical treatment from 2001 to 2011 in seven sports codes. A retrospective review of injury entitlement claims by seven sports from 2001 to 2011. Data were analyzed by sporting code, age, ethnicity, gender and year of competition for total and moderate-to-severe (MSC) Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) claims and costs. A total of 20,902 claims costing $NZD 16,546,026 were recorded over the study period of which 1330 (6.4%) were MSC claims. The mean yearly number and costs of MSC claims were 133 ± 36 and $1,303,942 ± 378,949. Rugby union had the highest number of MSC claims per year (38; 95% CI 36-41 per 1000 MSC claims). New Zealand Māori recorded the highest total ($6,000,759) and mean cost ($21,120) per MSC claim. Although MSC injury claims were only 6.4% of total claims, they accounted for 79.1% of total costs indicating that although the majority of sport-related concussions may be minor in severity, the related economic costs associated with more serious sport-related concussion can be high. The finding that rugby union recorded the most MSC claims in the current study was not unexpected. Of concern is that rugby league recorded a low number of MSC claims but the highest mean cost per claim. Due to the high mean cost per concussion, and the high total and mean cost for New Zealand Māori, further investigation is warranted.