Is the game of touch rugby safe for female adolescents?

Abstract

The game of touch rugby is considered safe, yielding minimal acute musculoskeletal injuries. This study profiled the prevalence of acute touch rugby musculoskeletal injury among female adolescent non-elite, recreational players over a 6 month period (February-July 2014). Data were collected from 76 high school players participating, in the A League in the Upper High Way Area of Kwa Zulu-Natal Province, South Africa, via voluntary parental informed consent and player ascent. Players completed a self-report questionnaire probing the nature and mechanism of acute musculoskeletal injuries. Probability was set at p? 0.05. Forty-nine players sustained acute musculoskeletal injuries with the ankle (33.3%) and knee (28.8%) being most prevalent (p<0.001). The Link player position indicated most injuries (p<0.0001). The mechanisms producing the musculoskeletal injuries were rapid, rotational movement (33.3%) and poor landing (26.6%) (p<0.05). Female adolescent touch rugby players experience a high prevalence of acute musculoskeletal knee and ankle injuries.

Keywords: Touch rugby, musculoskeletal injury, female adolescents.