Epidemiology of Injuries in Portuguese Senior Male Rugby Union Sevens

UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR Ciências da Saúde Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens. Assessment of injury incidence, severity, impact, type and risk factors in the two top tiers of competition and possible strategies for its mitigation. António Miguel da Cruz Ferreira Tese para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Medicina (3º ciclo de estudos) Orientador: Prof. Doutor Luiz Miguel Santiago Co-orientador: Prof. Doutor Luis Taborda Barata Covilhã, Janeiro de 2019 Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens ii Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR Ciências da Saúde Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens. Assessment of injury incidence, severity, impact, type and risk factors in the two top tiers of competition and possible strategies for its mitigation. António Miguel da Cruz Ferreira A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine Primary Supervisor: Professor Luiz Miguel Santiago, MD, PhD Associate Supervisor: Professor Luis Taborda Barata, MD, PhD Covilhã, January 2019 iii Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens iv Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens Dedication To my family, for always being by my side! v Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens vi Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens Acknowledgments The conception, design and conclusion of this project would have not been possible without the help and support of so many friends, partners, rugby agents and academics. Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank both my Supervisors, Professor Luiz Miguel Santiago and Professor Luis Taborda Barata for all their extraordinary support, friendship and constant encouragement during all these years. Without your help, time and patience I couldn’t have done this. Secondly, to all the other researchers that helped me during the implementation of all the phases of our study, but also to the several partners that helped us on the different phases of our study. For your kindness, comprehension and commitment with the promotion of player’s safety and welfare in Portuguese rugby sevens: - Associação Académica de Coimbra – Secção de Rugby - ClinicalLab-Eurotrials - Coach João Luís Pinto - Dr. Eduardo Miguel da Cruz Ferreira - Dr. Francisco Moreira - Dr. Gonçalo Neto - Dr. João Diogo Silva - Dr. Luis Casssiano Neves - Dr. Mário Costa - Dr. Maria Teresa Lugarinho Monteiro - Dr. Paulo Picão Eusébio - Dr. Pedro Galveias Henriques - Dr. Ricardo Dias - Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade da Beira Interior - Federação Portuguesa de Rugby - IDEALMED - Pt. Carla Faria - Pt. Diana Carvalho - Pt. Elisabete Martins - Pt. Ricardo Almeida Ferreira - Prof. João Jacob Mateus - Prof. Rui Carvoeira - Professor António Macedo - Professor Henrique Pereira To all of you, my deepest gratitude. vii Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens viii Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens Research overview Sports injuries in rugby sevens have been studied in recent years, but almost exclusively at the highest competitive levels.1 However, even when compared with the available literature for the fifteens variant at the same level of competition, there is still a significant gap in terms of the volume and quality of data collected.2,3 Considering that rugby sevens has a great tradition in Portugal, that it has recently gained Olympic sport status and also has one of the highest injury incidence rates of all sports played worldwide, it becomes crucial, for us, to describe and understand the impact of sports injuries among Portuguese senior male rugby sevens’ players and teams. Only with full knowledge of the epidemiology and risk factors for sports injuries at this level of competition will we be able to design, develop and assist with the implementation of effective strategies to mitigate the direct and indirect costs of injuries in rugby sevens, thus promoting players’ safety and welfare. Therefore, it is extremely relevant, in our opinion, to: a) conduct a solid review of the literature on the epidemiology of injuries in rugby sevens; b) to characterize the Portuguese rugby sevens senior male player; c) to accurately determine the injury incidence rate at this level of competition, as well as the potentially relevant risk factors. Likewise, it will be crucial to open and maintain direct lines of communication with all the different sport agents (athletes, coaches, directors, doctors, physios and parents) in order to get their feedback and include their perspectives on the recommendations to be made, aiming at the reduction of injury incidence rates, the improvement of the show as well as the reduction of direct and indirect costs of the injuries. Thesis overview This thesis is divided into the following Chapters: Chapter One: Introduction – where relevant background information is detailed, especially regarding injury definitions, theories of injury causation and explanation models of sports injuries and injury prevention, and also a characterization of rugby sevens physical demands and potential risk factors for injuries, players’ physical and anthropometric profile and the epidemiology of injuries in rugby sevens. Chapter Two: Objectives – research aims, research questions and hypotheses for the present study are systematically presented. ix Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens Chapter Three: Methods – an overview of the methodology used is briefly presented, as most of the methodology of this thesis has already been published and is available in the literature (the published articles, which include the methodology, are included in the Appendices). Chapter Four: Results – according to the structure chosen for this thesis, all relevant published data (using the final format accepted for publication) are presented in this section; in addition, other unpublished data relevant to the study are also presented as “authors’ article” in this section. Chapter Five: Discussion and final conclusion – all the key findings and conclusions of the thesis are critically discussed in this section. Methodology used, contribution to existing knowledge and implications for the future are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter Six: Future perspectives – based on all the findings and feedbacks, future research possibilities are suggested, as well as the discussion of the practical implications of the findings and the use of this knowledge. Publications This thesis lead to the publication of the following papers in indexed peer-reviewed journals: - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Santiago LM, Taborda-Barata L. Epidemiology of injuries in senior male rugby union sevens: a systematic review. Phys Sportsmed. 2017 Feb;45(1):41- 48. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2017.1248224. (Appendices A1, B1) - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Santiago LM, Taborda-Barata L. Epidemiology of injuries in senior male Portuguese rugby union sevens: a cohort prospective study. Phys Sportsmed. 2018 May;46(2):255-261. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2018.1441581. (Appendices A2, B2) - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Santiago LM, Taborda-Barata L. Promoting players' safety and welfare through the sharing of scientific knowledge with sports agents: the new reality of Portuguese rugby sevens. Phys Sportsmed. 2017 Oct 5:1-2. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2017.1386067. (Appendices A3, B3) - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Ribeiro P, Santiago LM, Taborda-Barata L. Epidemiology of time-loss injuries in senior and under-18 Portuguese male rugby players. Journal of Human Kinetics. 2018; 2: 73-80. doi: 10.1515/hukin-2017-0159 (Appendices A4, B4) Conference presentations This thesis lead to the following oral presentations made at scientific events: - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Taborda-Barata L, Santiago LM. Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens. 5th ECOSEP Congress and FIFA Update. Dubai, 9-10 Dec 2017 (Appendices A5, B5) x Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Taborda-Barata L, Santiago LM. Time-loss injuries in senior and under-18 Portuguese male rugby union players. 5th ECOSEP Congress and FIFA Update. Dubai, 9-10 Dec 2017 (Appendices A5, B5) - Cruz-Ferreira AM, Cruz-Ferreira EM, Taborda-Barata L, Santiago LM. The relationship between precompetitive somatic anxiety, worry and concentration disruption and the occurrence of sports injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby sevens players. 5th ECOSEP Congress and FIFA Update. Dubai, 9-10 Dec 2017 (Appendices A5, B5) xi Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens xii Epidemiology of injuries in Portuguese senior male rugby union sevens Resumo alargado Introdução: O rugby de sete (popularmente conhecido como Sevens) é uma modalidade desportiva, variante de rugby union, disputada por duas equipas de sete elementos cada, num campo com as dimensões habituais da variante de quinze (100 metros de comprimento por 70 de largura), em partidas com duração total de 14 minutos (duas partes de sete minutos com um intervalo de dois entre cada uma). Apesar de ter mais de um século de história, nas últimas duas décadas, após a criação dos Campeonatos Mundiais de Sevens (em 1993) e do Circuito Mundial de rugby de sete (em 1999), esta variante ganhou um especial destaque e mediatismo

Load more