Gradual-onset surfing-related injuries in New Zealand: A cross-sectional study

Remnant, Debbie; Moran, Robert; Furness, James; Climstein, Mike; Hing, Wayne; Bacon, Catherine J.

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2020.05.010

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Assuming an estimated proportion of injuries of 50% and a confidence level of 95%, a minimum of 1,068 respondents was calculated to be required to achieve a margin of error of three percentage points based on the 2014 estimated population of 155,000 surfers in NZ ( Haughey, Gray & Heffield, 2015 ; Remnant et al, 2020 ). This population estimate was also used by Remnant et al (2020) who investigated gradual onset injuries from the same study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traumatic injuries were defined as having a specific event or sudden impact that occurred while surfing just prior to any symptoms ( i.e., pain) ( Verhagen & Van Mechelen, 2010 ). For the purpose of this study, only injuries identified as ‘traumatic’ were analysed, all data pertaining to gradual onset injuries were previously published by Remnant et al (2020) . Traumatic injuries were further categorised as either ‘major’ or ‘minor’ using a method previously employed by surf injury research ( Furness et al, 2014 ; Furness et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surfing is a very popular aquatic sport and activity with an estimated 37 million surfers worldwide ( Remnant et al, 2020 ), and with surfing’s recent qualification into the Tokyo Olympics ( International Surfing Association, 2018 ) its popularity continues to grow ( McArthur et al, 2020 ). The growth in popularity of surfing has also seen a growth in scientific research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The geography of NZ includes 14,000 kilometres of coastline, varied seafloors (sand, rock, gravel, and reef), swell provided from two oceans (the Tasman Sea and South Pacific Ocean), and varied beach exposure (spits, inlets, headlands and fiords) ( Moran & Webber, 2013 ). Given this unique geography surfing is popular in NZ, with an estimated 315,000 surfers over the age of 15 within a population of 3.9 million adults ( Remnant et al, 2020 ; Simas et al, 2019 ; Statistics New Zealand, 2018 ). Surfing is not only a recreational pastime and competitive outlet for NZ residents but also popular with Mãori, the indigenous people of NZ; with reports of surfing by Mãori several hundred years ago prior to European settlement ( Te Kanawa, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Injuries can be further categorised into acute or chronic according to duration, whereby an acute injury is typically defined as one that is resolves within a 3-month period whilst a chronic injury lasts more than 3 months ( Jordan et al, 2010 ). There is a paucity of epidemiological research specific to surfing using the injury definition of both injury onset (traumatic or gradual) and duration (acute or chronic), with only one study that has appropriately used these definitions, however this study focussed on gradual onset injuries only ( Remnant et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Traumatic surfing injuries in New Zealand: a descriptive epidemiology study

Furness

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et al. 2021

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Background New Zealand (NZ) has nearly 14,000 km of coastline and a surfing population of approximately 315,000 surfers. Given its popularity, surfing has a high frequency of injury claims, however, there remains a lack of data on traumatic surfing-related injuries from large population studies. The primary purpose of this study was to examine traumatic surfing injuries in NZ specific to injury incidence, duration, location, type, mechanism of injury and associated risk factors. Methods A sample of self-identified surfers currently living in NZ participated in an online retrospective cross-sectional survey between December 2015 and July 2016. Demographic and surfing injury data were collected and analysed. Results The survey yielded 1,473 respondents (18.3% female); a total of 502 surfers reported 702 major traumatic injuries with an overall incidence proportion of 0.34 (95% CI [0.32–0.37]). When comparing the number of injured surfers who sustained an injury at various body locations, a significantly higher proportion of competitive surfers, compared to recreational surfers, had an injury at the neck (6.8% vs 4%, χ2 (1,1473) = 5.84, P = 0.019); shoulder (7.4% vs 4.3%, χ2 (1,1473) = 6.34, P = 0.017), upper back (1% vs 2.4%, χ2 (1,1473) = 4.77, P = 0.043), lower back (7% vs 3.1%, χ2 (1,1473) = 11.98, P = 0.001) and knee (7% vs 3.4%, χ2 (1,1473) = 9.67, P = 0.003). A significantly higher proportion of surfers who performed aerial manoeuvres compared to those who did not reported a higher proportion of knee injuries (9.7% vs 3.9%, χ2 (1,1473) = 13.00, P = 0.001). With respect to injury duration, the shoulder represented the largest proportion of chronic injuries (>3 months) (44.4%), and the head and face represented the largest proportion of acute injuries (≤3 months) (88%). Muscle and tendon injuries were reported most frequently (25.6%) and direct contact injuries accounted for 58.1% of all injury mechanisms. Key risk factors for traumatic injury included: competitive compared to recreational status (41.0% vs 30.1%, Relative Risk (RR) = 1.36, P < 0.001), ability to perform aerial manoeuvres (48.1% vs 31.8%, RR = 1.51, P < 0.001) and intermediate or above skill level surfers compared to beginner surfers (35.8% vs 22.7%, RR = 1.58, P < 0.001). Conclusion One third of recreational surfers sustained a major traumatic injury in the previous 12 months. For competitive or aerialist surfers the risk was greater, with this proportion approximately half. Overall, the head/face was the most common location of traumatic injury, with competitive surfers being more likely to sustain a neck, shoulder, lower back, and knee injury compared to recreational surfers. The shoulder was associated with the highest proportion of injuries of chronic duration. Future research should investigate injury mechanisms and causation using prospective injury monitoring to better underpin targeted injury prevention programs.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%