Injury rate and patterns of Sydney grade cricketers: a prospective study of injuries in 408 cricketers

Injury surveillance in community cricket: A new inning for South Africa

Published injury rates amongst elite and club-level youth cricketers highlight the need to implement injury risk-reducing strategies amongst the youth cricketing population. Data from sports injury surveillance systems are a prerequisite for the development and evaluation of strategies to reduce injury risk. Therefore, collecting injury surveillance data is a positive move towards reducing injuries in cricket. In South Africa, a systematic, standardised, evidence-informed injury surveillance system currently does not exist for community levels of play, namely, in cricket-playing high schools and cricket clubs. Although injury surveillance systems exist at elite levels, the obvious differences in elite versus community cricket settings mean that these systems cannot be implemented in their current form at community-level cricket. An innovative model is required to implement an injury surveillance system in community cricket.

Clinical implications

This article proposes and describes a new research-practice partnership model to implement a systematic, standardised, evidence-informed injury surveillance system at cricket-playing high schools or cricket clubs within South Africa. Once this model has been employed, database systems will need to be established to allow long-term data management and sharing.

The Relationship Between Cricket Participation, Health, and Wellbeing: A Systematic Scoping Review

Summarising and synthesising the evidence on cricket health and wellbeing can help inform cricket stakeholders and navigate future research directions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cricket participation, health and wellbeing at all ages and playing standards, and identify research gaps in the existing literature. A scoping review was performed from inception to March, 2020. Studies were included if they assessed a construct related to health and/or wellbeing in cricketers, available in English. 219 articles were eligible. Injury incidence per 1,000 player exposures ranged from 1.8-5.7 injuries. 48% of former cricketers experienced persistent joint pain. However, former cricketers reported greater physical activity levels and mental-components of quality of life compared to the general population. Heat injury/illness and skin cancer are concerns and require further research. Cricket participation is associated with an inherent injury risk, which may have negative implications for musculoskeletal health in later life. However, cricket participation is associated with high quality of life which can persist after retirement. Gaps in the literature include prospective studies on health and wellbeing of cricketers, female cricketers, injury prevention strategies, and the impact of cricket participation on metabolic health and lifetime physical activity.

Prevalence and risk factors for back pain in sports: a systematic review with meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in sport, and what risk factors were associated with LBP in athletes.

DESIGN

Systematic review with meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Literature searches from database inception to June 2019 in Medline, Embase, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science and Scopus, supplemented by grey literature searching.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Studies evaluating prevalence of LBP in adult athletes across all sports.

RESULTS

Eighty-six studies were included (30 732, range 20-5958, participants), of which 45 were of 'high' quality. Definitions of LBP varied widely, and in 17 studies, no definition was provided. High-quality studies were pooled and the mean point prevalence across six studies was 42%; range 18%-80% (95% CI 27% to 58%, I2=97%). Lifetime prevalence across 13 studies was 63%; range 36%-88% (95% CI 51% to 74%, I2=99%). Twelve-month LBP prevalence from 22 studies was 51%; range 12%-94% (95% CI 41% to 61%, I2=98%). Comparison across sports was limited by participant numbers, study quality and methodologies, and varying LBP definitions. Risk factors for LBP included history of a previous episode with a pooled OR of 3.5; range 1.6-4.0 (95% CI 1.9 to 6.4). Statistically significant associations were reported for high training volume, periods of load increase and years of exposure to the sport.

CONCLUSION

LBP in sport is common but estimates vary. Current evidence is insufficient to identify which sports are at highest risk. A previous episode of LBP, high training volume, periods of load increase and years of exposure are common risk factors.

Cricket-related injuries treated in United States emergency departments

BACKGROUND

Cricket is a popular spectator sport played all over the globe, including in the United States (US). However, most of the literature on cricket-related injuries is from outside the US. This study described cricket-related injuries treated at US emergency departments (EDs).

METHODS

Cases were cricket-related injuries reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) during 2000-2019. Cases were identified by reviewing the record narrative for the term "crick." The distribution of the number of cases and national estimate were determined for selected variables.

RESULTS

A total of 485 cricket-related injuries treated at US EDs during 2000-2019 were identified, resulting in a national estimate of 13,729 injuries (95% confidence interval 10,324-17,135). The patients were 68.5% age 20-39 years, 97.5% male, and 68.6% non-white. The most common types of injuries were lacerations (24.0%), strains or sprains (21.4%), fractures (19.6%), and contusions or abrasions (13.2%). The most frequently affected body parts were the upper extremity (43.9%) and head or neck (29.9%). The patient was treated or examined at the ED and then released in 97.5% of the cases.

CONCLUSION

Cricket-related injuries treated at US EDs tended to involve patients who were adults, particularly age 20-39 years, male, and non-white. The majority of patients were treated or examined at the ED and then released.

Health-related quality of life and flourishing in current and former recreational and elite cricketers

BACKGROUND

Health related quality of life (HRQoL) and flourishing are constructs that encompasses a holistic representation of physical, psychological, and social health. The underlying psychological factors that can affect HRQoL and flourishing in sports participants is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to i) evaluate HRQoL (physical and mental-components) and flourishing in recreational and elite and current and former cricketers; ii) determine the effect of resilience, playing-standard, and playing status on HRQoL and flourishing in cricketers.

METHODS

The Cricket Health and Wellbeing Study (n = 2598 current and former cricketers, aged ≥18 years) collected cross-sectional questionnaire data including the Flourishing Scale, Short Form-8 (physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores), resilience (European Social Survey), highest standard-of-play, and playing status. Multivariable linear regressions with fractional polynomials were utilised, adjusted for age, gender, total cricket-seasons, comorbidity, ≥ 4-week time-loss injury, and orthopaedic surgery.

RESULTS

Two thousand two hundred eighty individuals (aged (mean (SD)) 51.7(14.7) years, 61% played recreationally, 37% former cricketers) were included in analyses. The median (IQR) PCS was 51.4(46.9-55.9), MCS was 54.3(50.0-58.6), and Flourishing Scale score was 48 [ (1-7)] .Greater resilience was associated with better PCS (effect (95% CI) 1.41(0.70-2.11)), MCS (4.78(4.09-5.48)), and flourishing (2.07(2.55-3.59)) compared to less resilience. Playing standard was not associated with HRQoL. Playing at an elite standard was associated with greater flourishing (1.21(0.68, 1.73)), compared with playing recreationally. Current cricket participation was associated with better PCS (3.61(2.92-4.30)) and flourishing scores (0.53(0.02-1.04)), compared to former cricket participation.

CONCLUSION

Cricketers reported high levels of mental-components of HRQoL and flourishing, and this was similar in recreational, elite, current and former cricketers. Current cricket participation and a higher standard-of-play was associated with greater flourishing. Current cricket participation was also associated with better PCS, however playing-status was not related to MCS. Further research is needed to understand if cricket participation may have psychological benefits that persist beyond cricket retirement.

Relationship between cricket participation, health and well-being: scoping review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Cricket is a popular sport played by 2.5 billion people of all ages and abilities. However, cricket participation is decreasing in the UK, despite an increased focus of governments on increasing sport participation to enhance public health. Understanding the health benefits and mitigating the health risks of cricket participation may help cricket organisations promote cricket participation while optimising the long-term health of cricket participants. Currently, there is no literature review on the relationship between cricket participation, health and well-being; thus, this relationship remains unclear. Therefore, the aims of this scoping review were (1) to investigate the relationship between cricket participation, health and well-being and (ii) to identify the research gaps related to cricket, health and well-being.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Due to the broad nature of our research question and the large number of health outcomes assessed within the cricket literature and to facilitate identification of research gaps, a scoping review methodology was used. The methodology of this paper was informed by previous scoping review protocols and best practice methodological frameworks. MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Web of Science and PEDro and grey literature sources (Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN Registry and ProQuest) will be systematically searched. Studies that assess a construct related to health and/or well-being in current and/or former cricketers from all ages and standards of play will be eligible. Two reviewers will independently screen full texts of identified studies for eligibility and will perform data extraction. Results will be presented in tabular and graphical forms and will be reported descriptively.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This research is exempt from ethics approval due to the data being available through published and public available resources. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed sports and exercise medicine journal regardless of positive or negative findings. In addition, results will be disseminated through multiple platforms, including conference presentations and social media using multimedia resources (eg, infographics, animations, videos, podcasts and blogs), to engage stakeholder groups, including cricketers, cricket coaches, sporting bodies, sports medicine professionals and policy makers. There findings will inform clinical decision making, policy changes and future research agendas.

Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Injury Surveillance App for Cricket: Protocol and Qualitative Study

Background

Injury surveillance and workload monitoring are important aspects of professional sports, including cricket. However, at the community level, there is a dearth of accessible and intelligent surveillance tools. Mobile apps are an accessible tool for monitoring cricket-related injuries at all levels.

Objective

The objective of this paper is to share the novel methods associated with the development of the free TeamDoc app and provide evidence from an evaluation of the user experience and perception of the app regarding its functionality, utility, and design.

Methods

TeamDoc mobile app for Android and Apple smartphones was developed using 3 languages: C++, Qt Modeling Language, and JavaScript. For the server-side connectivity, Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) was used as it is a commonly used cross-platform language. PHP includes components that interact with popular database management systems, allowing for secure interaction with databases on a server level. The app was evaluated by administrating a modified user version of the Mobile App Rating Scale (uMARS; maximum score: 5).

Results

TeamDoc is the first complementary, standalone mobile app that records cricket injuries through a smartphone. It can also record cricketing workloads, which is a known risk factor for injury. The app can be used without the need for supplementary computer devices for synchronization. The uMARS scores showed user satisfaction (overall mean score 3.6 [SD 0.5]), which demonstrates its acceptability by cricketers.

Conclusions

Electronic injury surveillance systems have been shown to improve data collection during competitive sports. Therefore, TeamDoc may assist in improving injury reporting and may also act as a monitoring system for coaching staff to adjust individual training workloads. The methods described in this paper provide a template for researchers to develop similar apps for other sports.