Return to rugby following musculoskeletal injuries: A survey of views, practices and barriers among health and sport practitioners.

Study Design And Setting: Returning rugby players to the sport following musculoskeletal injuries is a multi-factorial and challenging process. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among health and sport practitioners involved with injured rugby players in South Africa.

Objectives And Outcome Measures: The views, current practices and barriers encountered by health and sport practitioners during return to rugby were investigated using a self-developed online survey.

Results: 64 practitioners participated in the survey including physiotherapists, orthopaedic surgeons, biokineticists and sports physicians. Return to sport (RTS) protocols were considered important, however, participants also indicated that they were slightly more likely to use anecdotal protocols compared to published protocols. Time frames, stages of healing, pain and subjective ratings along with functional outcome measures (such as range of motion, muscle function and proprioception) and sport-specific skills were rated as important and commonly utilised in different RTS phases (i.e., return to non-contact, return to contact and return to matches). The most commonly perceived barriers encountered were related to lack of access and time-constraints.

Conclusion: Return to rugby guidelines with consideration of a broad range of criteria and common barriers encountered should be developed to facilitate safe, practical and time-efficient return to rugby following musculoskeletal injuries.