Time loss injuries compromise team success in Elite Rugby Union: a 7-year prospective study.

Background: A negative association between injuries and team success has been demonstrated in professional football, but the nature of this association in elite Rugby Union teams is currently unclear.

Aim: To assess the association between injury burden measures and team success outcomes within professional Rugby Union teams.

Methods: A seven-season prospective cohort design was used to record all time-loss injuries incurred by English Premiership players.

Realising the potential for an Olympic legacy; teaching medical students about sport and exercise medicine and exercise prescribing.

Background: Physicians are increasingly being called upon to promote physical activity (PA) among patients. However, a paucity of exercise medicine teaching in the UK undergraduate medical curricula prevents students from acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to do so. To address this issue, King's College London School of Medicine introduced an exercise medicine strand of teaching.

The effect of a comprehensive injury audit program on injury incidence in ballet: a 3-year prospective study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether an intervention with individualized conditioning program based on injury history and functional movement screening would be effective in reducing ballet injury incidence.

Design: Prospective 3-year epidemiological study.

Setting: Professional ballet company and its in-house medical facility.

Changes in the stature, body mass and age of English professional rugby players: a 10-year review.

The aim of the study was to evaluate changes in the stature, body mass, age and number of players by playing position in the first team squads of English Premiership rugby union teams from 2002 to 2011. Medical personnel at each club reported the individual data for every first team squad player. The average annual number of players included in the study was 485.

Shoulder instability in professional rugby players-the significance of shoulder laxity.

Objective: Shoulder instability is a common cause of morbidity among professional rugby union players. This study explores whether the risk of shoulder dislocation is associated with innate shoulder laxity.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

The physician's role in prescribing physical activity for the prevention and treatment of essential hypertension.

Blood pressure control and prevention of hypertension can be achieved by both pharmacological and lifestyle interventions; one important lifestyle intervention is physical activity. Participation in regular physical activity can modestly lower blood pressure by reducing total peripheral resistance; it can also reduce the risk of developing hypertension and improve morbidity and mortality outcomes. Therefore, physical activity is a recommended intervention for the majority of hypertensive or prehypertensive patients.

The epidemiology of foot injuries in professional rugby union players.

Background: Foot injuries represent a small but important proportion of injuries to professional rugby union players. There are no detailed epidemiological studies regarding these injuries. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of foot injuries sustained by a cohort of professional rugby union players and identify areas that may be targeted for injury prevention in the future.

The epidemiology of ankle injuries in professional rugby union players.

Background: Ankle injuries represent a considerable proportion of injuries to professional rugby union players; however, there is a scarcity of detailed epidemiology about these injuries.

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology and assess the risk factors associated with ankle injuries sustained by a cohort of professional rugby union players.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Injury risks associated with tackling in rugby union.

Objective: To examine factors associated with tackles in rugby union and to assess their impact on the risk of injury.

Design: Two-season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design with video analysis.

Setting: 13 English Premiership clubs.

An assessment of training volume in professional rugby union and its impact on the incidence, severity, and nature of match and training injuries.

A prospective cohort study was used to assess the influence of training volume on injuries sustained by 502 professional rugby union players in England. Training volumes (excluding warm-ups, cool-downs, and recovery sessions), player injuries, and player match exposure times were reported weekly. Higher training volumes (>9.

The epidemiology of head injuries in English professional rugby union.

Objectives: To undertake a detailed epidemiological study of head injuries sustained by professional rugby union players in order to define their incidence, nature, severity, and causes.

Design: A 3-season prospective cohort design.

Setting: 13 English Premiership rugby union clubs.

Recent trends in rugby union injuries.

Rugby union has changed in recent years because of several rule modifications and the 1995 advent of professionalism. Trends in rugby union injury epidemiology include: higher incidence of injury than other team sports, an apparent increase in injury risk in professional and amateur games since the advent of professionalism, reduction in injury incidence with decreasing age and competitive level, significantly higher incidence of injuries during matches compared with training, and a high proportion of tackle injuries. The commonest high-risk injury sites are the shoulder, knee, thigh, ankle, and head.

Contact events in rugby union and their propensity to cause injury.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of contact events in professional rugby union matches and to assess their propensity to cause injury.

Design: The study was a two-season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design. It included 645 professional rugby union players from 13 English Premiership rugby union clubs.

Consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection procedures for studies of injuries in rugby union.

Wide variations in the definitions and methodologies used for studies of injuries in rugby union have created inconsistencies in reported data and made interstudy comparisons of results difficult. The International Rugby Board established a Rugby Injury Consensus Group (RICG) to reach an agreement on the appropriate definitions and methodologies to standardise the recording of injuries and reporting of studies in rugby union. The RICG reviewed the consensus definitions and methodologies previously published for football (soccer) at a meeting in Dublin in order to assess their suitability for and application to rugby union.

The epidemiology of shoulder injuries in English professional rugby union.

Background: Shoulder injuries constitute a considerable risk to professional rugby union players; however, there is a shortage of detailed epidemiologic information about injuries in this population.

Purpose: To describe the incidence, severity, and risk factors associated with shoulder injuries in professional rugby union.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Spinal injuries in professional rugby union: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine the incidence, severity, nature, and causes of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine injuries sustained during competition and training in professional rugby union.

Design: A 2 season prospective cohort design.

Setting: Twelve English Premiership rugby union clubs.

The epidemiology of knee injuries in English professional rugby union.

Background: Detailed injury epidemiology is an invaluable tool for reducing risks associated with sporting injuries. Very little accurate injury surveillance data exist regarding knee injuries in professional rugby.

Hypotheses: (1) Knee injuries have a greater impact on the game than injuries to other body locations.

The influence of methodological issues on the results and conclusions from epidemiological studies of sports injuries: illustrative examples.

Data obtained from epidemiological studies of sports injuries are an essential requirement for developing injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation strategies. Although many authors have discussed the strengths and weaknesses of research methods employed in epidemiology, the potential effects that variations in research design and methods of analysis can have on study conclusions have not been clearly illustrated. This article addresses a number of methodological issues and illustrates their potential effects using examples based on injury data obtained from a single, large epidemiological study in professional rugby union.

Incidence, risk, and prevention of hamstring muscle injuries in professional rugby union.

Background: The incidence of hamstring muscle injuries in professional rugby union is high, but evidence-based information on risk factors and injury-prevention strategies in this sport is limited.

Purpose: To define the incidence, severity, and risk factors associated with hamstring muscle injuries in professional rugby union and to determine whether the use of hamstring strengthening and stretching exercises reduces the incidence and severity of these injuries.

Study Design: Cohort study (prevention); Level of evidence, 3.

Regulation of stromal versican expression by breast cancer cells and importance to relapse-free survival in patients with node-negative primary breast cancer.

Purpose: Determination of meaningful prognostic indicesremains a high priority for women diagnosed with node-negative primary breast cancer. Currently, 30% of these women relapse, and there is no reliable means of predicting this group of patients. This study investigates whether the level of expression of versican, an anticell adhesive proteoglycan, in the peritumoral stromal tissue of women with node-negative, primary breast cancer predicts relapse-free survival.