Abstract
Background: Understanding the cost of injuries can identify areas for prevention strategies to improve player welfare, reduce the financial burden of injuries and aid with budget management. This has investigated in recreational cricket but not in elite cricket.
Objectives: To report the number of claims and associated costs from injury insurance records in professional male cricketers in England and Wales.
Design: Retrospective cohort study of seven years (2015/16 – 2020/21) of cricket-related health insurance data.
Setting: Eighteen First-Class County Cricket (FCCC) and international team in England and Wales.
Patient: Professional male senior cricket players registered to one of the FCCC team.
Interventions: Health insurance claims made for cricket-related injuries requiring medical interventions.
Main Outcome Measurements: The number and cost of cricket-related insurance claims, with costs adjusted to 2021 values to account for inflation.
Results: There were 9081 injury claims totalling £5,145,371. The mean annual cost was £735,053 (SD £143,419) and the average claim was £567 (SD £1,318). Annual claim rate per county was 68.3 (95% CI 43.5, 107.0) and annual cost per county was £38,687 (95% CI £24,676, £60,652). Lower limb injuries accounted for the highest percentage of claims (39.6%) and costs (43.0%). Lumbar spine injuries was the specific body location with the highest costs (£769,924) and hand injuries the highest number of claims (1405). Imaging was the most common intervention (45.0% of claims) with surgery the most expensive (£1,803,056), closely followed by imaging costs (£1,789,055). The mean imaging cost for lumbar spine and hand injuries was £612 (SD £368) and £185 (SD £153), respectively, and mean surgery cost was £4,993 (SD £6,262) and £1,888 (SD £2,066), respectively.
Conclusions: Injury prevention strategies targeting lower limb and, in particular, lumbar spine injuries have potential to improve player welfare by reducing the number of injury claims and associated costs.
Objectives: To report the number of claims and associated costs from injury insurance records in professional male cricketers in England and Wales.
Design: Retrospective cohort study of seven years (2015/16 – 2020/21) of cricket-related health insurance data.
Setting: Eighteen First-Class County Cricket (FCCC) and international team in England and Wales.
Patient: Professional male senior cricket players registered to one of the FCCC team.
Interventions: Health insurance claims made for cricket-related injuries requiring medical interventions.
Main Outcome Measurements: The number and cost of cricket-related insurance claims, with costs adjusted to 2021 values to account for inflation.
Results: There were 9081 injury claims totalling £5,145,371. The mean annual cost was £735,053 (SD £143,419) and the average claim was £567 (SD £1,318). Annual claim rate per county was 68.3 (95% CI 43.5, 107.0) and annual cost per county was £38,687 (95% CI £24,676, £60,652). Lower limb injuries accounted for the highest percentage of claims (39.6%) and costs (43.0%). Lumbar spine injuries was the specific body location with the highest costs (£769,924) and hand injuries the highest number of claims (1405). Imaging was the most common intervention (45.0% of claims) with surgery the most expensive (£1,803,056), closely followed by imaging costs (£1,789,055). The mean imaging cost for lumbar spine and hand injuries was £612 (SD £368) and £185 (SD £153), respectively, and mean surgery cost was £4,993 (SD £6,262) and £1,888 (SD £2,066), respectively.
Conclusions: Injury prevention strategies targeting lower limb and, in particular, lumbar spine injuries have potential to improve player welfare by reducing the number of injury claims and associated costs.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 29 Feb 2024 |
| Event | IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport - Monaco, Monaco Duration: 29 Feb 2024 → 2 Mar 2024 |
Conference
| Conference | IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport |
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| Country/Territory | Monaco |
| Period | 29/02/24 → 2/03/24 |