A multi-year injury epidemiology analysis of an elite national junior tennis program

Objectives: To profile multi-year injury incidence and severity trends in elite junior tennis players from a national program. Design: Prospective cohort. Methods: Injury data was collated by sex, age and region for all nationally-supported Australian junior players (58m, 43f 13-18y) between 2012-2016. Injury was defined as a physical complaint from training/matchplay interrupting training/matchplay determined by presiding physiotherapists and doctors. Severity represented the days of interrupted training/matchplay per injury. Injury incidence was reported per 1000 exposure hours. Incidence rate change and rate ratios (RR) +/- 95% confidence intervals were used to assess changes over time. Results: No difference in male and female injury incidence existed (2.7 +/- 0.0 v 2.8 +/- 0.0) yet male injuries were more severe (3.6 +/- 0.6 v 1.1 +/- 0.9 days). The lumbar spine was the most commonly and severely injured region in both sexes (4.3 +/- 0.2, 9.9 +/- 1.4 d). Shoulder injuries were the second most common in both sexes (3.1 +/- 0.2) and with the second highest severity in males (7.3 +/- 1.4d). Knee injuries were also common in males (2.3 +/- 0.2) yet potentially reduced over time (0.4 +/- 0.6 RR) as pelvis/buttock injuries increased (3.4 +/- 14.0 RR). Females had high trunk and abdominal injury incidences (2.5 +/- 0.3). Independent of sex, the injury incidence increased with age from 2.0 +/- 0.1 (13y) to 2.9 +/- 0.1 (18y). Conclusions: Despite no sex-based difference in injury incidence, male injuries resulted in more interrupted days of training/matchplay. The lumbar spine and shoulder were the most commonly injured body regions in both sexes. The number of injuries sustained by players also increased as they aged. (C) 2018 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All right reserved.