Injuries in field hockey players (all ages)

July 2008

In the 4-year period 2003-2006, there were a total of 107 hospital admissions and 1,646 emergency department (ED) presentations for injuries related to field hockey injuries among Victorians aged 0-59 years. There were no injuries reported for anyone aged older than 59 years. Data was recorded on the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) Frequency: Table 1 shows the annual frequency of cases by year. The frequency of field hockey injuries was relatively stable over the years.

Table 1: Field hockey-related injury ED presentations and hospital admissions by year

Source: VAED, Jan '04 - Dec '06 & VEMD, Jan ‘03 - Dec ‘06
Note: VAED data for 2003 is not available.

Age: The highest injury frequency occurred in players aged 10-24 years, accounting for 51% of all hospitals admissions and 64% of ED presentations, mostly in the 15-19 year age group (Figure 1). In all age groups, males outnumbered females.

Source: VAED, Jan '04 - Dec '06 & VEMD, Jan ‘03 - Dec ‘06
Figure 1: Field hockey-related injury presentations by age groups and level of severity

Gender: Sixty-six percent of hospitals admissions were males. This pattern was similar among ED presentations where 63% of cases were males.

Cause: The vast majority of field hockey admissions were cause by being hit/struck/crush (61%) and falls (18%). Injuries presenting to hospitals were also primarily a result of struck by collision with an object (64%). Falls up to 1 metre and struck by collision with a person accounted for 12% each of injuries presentations.

Nature of injury: Among hospital admissions, fracture was the most common injury (52%), followed by dislocation, sprain and strain (17%), and open wound injury (12%). Among ED presentations, open wound was the most frequent injury (25%), followed by dislocation, sprain and strain (24%), fracture (18%), and superficial injury such as bruises and abrasions (13%).

Body site: The head was the most frequently injured body site in both admissions (30%) and ED presentations (33%) (Figure 2 & 3).

Source: VAED, Jan ‘04 - Dec ‘06 Figure 2: Field hockey–related injury hospital admissions by body site (n=107)

Source: VEMD, Jan ‘03 - Dec ‘06 Figure 3: Field hockey–related injury ED presentations by body site (n=1,646)

Location: Among both hospitals admissions and ED presentations , most of the injuries occurred at athletics and sports areas, accounting for 95% and 65% of cases respectively. ED presentations also occurred at a place of recreation (18%), and school, day care, and public admin area (10%). The location of injury was unspecified in 5% of hospital admissions and 2% of presentations.

Length of stay: Among the 107 admissions, 73% stayed in hospital for less than 2 days. Twenty-six percent were hospitalised for 2-7 days, and 1% stayed in hospital for more than 8 days. At their end of their stay, 97% were discharged home and 3% were discharged to an acute hospital or extended care.

Further information: For further information regarding field hockey injuries, see MUARC's report 143