Hospitalisation due to sports-related injuries among children and adolescents in New South Wales, Australia: an analysis on socioeconomic and geographic differences

This population-based epidemiological study aims to investigate the associations between socioeconomic status, geographic location, and sports-related injuries among children and adolescents in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Data utilised in this study were collected as part of the routine vital health information system via all hospitals in NSW. Included were all patients aged between 5-19 years admitted to a hospital because of sports-related injuries in NSW between 1996 and 2000. The crude age-and-sex-specific hospitalisation rates (/100,000 population-years) by socioeconomic levels and geographic residential locations were calculated. Negative Binomial regression analyses were also performed to examine the associations between socioeconomic status, geographic location and the rate of hospitalisation after adjusting for the age and sex of children and adolescents. The results indicated a significant association between geographic location and hospitalisation due to sports-related injury, after adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The risk of hospital admission with sports-related injury among children and adolescents in rural areas was nearly 10% higher than for those in the metropolitan areas (RR=1.12, 95%C.I.=1.07-1.32)). However, no association between socioeconomic status and hospitalisation with sports-related injury was found. Greater efforts are required in the implementation of safety strategies in research, training, and education for the prevention of sports-related injury in rural areas.