Ten-year Trends In Major Trauma Or Death Resulting From Sport And Recreation In Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Sports injuries which result in major trauma or death are associated with significant health-care burden and societal costs. Understanding changes in injury trends, and their drivers, is needed to implement policy aimed at risk reduction and injury prevention. To date, there has been no population-level reporting on trends in serious sport and recreation injuries anywhere in Australia over such an extended period, nor any studies of this length capturing comprehensive data on all sports-related major trauma internationally. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of sport and active recreation injuries resulting in major trauma or death for a 10-year period from July 2005-June 2015 in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: All sport and active recreation-related major trauma cases and deaths in Victoria, a state of Australia, were extracted from the population-level Victorian State Trauma Registry and the National Coroners Information System, over a 10-year period. Poisson regression analysis was used to examine trends in the incidence of sport and active recreation-related major trauma and death. RESULTS: There were 2,847 non-fatal major trauma cases and 614 deaths (including 96 in-hospital deaths) over the 10-year study period. The highest frequencies of major trauma cases and deaths were in cycling, motor sports and equestrian activities. The participation-adjusted major trauma and death rate was 12.2 per 100,000 participants per year. There was an 8% increase in the rate of major trauma (IRR=1.08, 95%CI, 1.06, 1.10; p<0.001), and a 7% decrease in the death rate (IRR=0.93, 95%CI: 0.90, 0.97; p<0.001). Out of all sports, there were significant increases in the rate of major trauma (including deaths) in equestrian activities, motor sports and cycling. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of major trauma due to participation in sport and recreation has increased over the past 10 years in Victoria, which was largely attributable to equestrian activities, motor sports and cycling. Study findings highlight the need to prioritize investment in the prevention of trauma in these activities.