Table 1 Characteristics of included studies (n = 46) documenting injuries to netball players

Attenborough et al. 2017 [25]

AUS

94 participants

11 ankle injuries

21.5 ± 6.3

Elite/Inter-district/recreational (club)

1 × season for a player

Elite/Inter-district reports (injury/exposure) by team physio/club director; Recreational self-report; Follow-up by phone; Preseason data collection in one session.

Ankle only

Elphinston et al. 2006 [26]

UK

17 participants

22 vs 4 injuries

25.9 ± 2.6

Elite

~ 2 × seasons

Physiotherapy assessment.

All injuries

Ferreira et al. 2010 [27]

SA

25 participants

46 injuries

18-23

Elite

1 × season

Weekly physiotherapy clinic assessment.

All injuries

Finch et al. 2002 [22]

AUS

247 participants

216 netball injuries

~ 22 ± 8

Recreational (club)

2 × 5-month seasons per player

Baseline questionnaire; diary record then self-report by monthly telephone interview over each season.

All injuries

Hopper 1986 [13]

AUS

3108 participants

158 netball injuries

12–15

> 15

Competitive to

Recreational (club)

1 × 14-week season

1983

Injury data recorded in questionnaire by courtside first aid room physiotherapist; other data provided by player in self-report questionnaire.

All moderate to severe injuries

Hopper et al. 1995 [28]

AUS

11228 participants

608 netball injuries

> 14

18.8 ± 5.6

Competitive to

Recreational (club)

5 × 14-week seasons

1984–1989

Injury data recorded in questionnaire by courtside first aid room physiotherapist; other data provided by player in self-report questionnaire.

All moderate to severe injuries

Hopper et al. 1995 [29]

AUS

72 participants

22 netball injuries

15–36

20.6 ±3.6

Elite to

Recreational (club)

1 × 14-week season

1989

Preseason lab testing: somatotype, hypermobility, vertical jump, anaerobic fitness (10-s cycle).

Injury data recorded in questionnaire by courtside first aid room physiotherapist; other data provided by player in self-report questionnaire; training injuries by player report to physiotherapist.

Lower limb and back only

Maulder et al. 2013 [30]

SA

24 participants

9 netball injuries

21.6 ± 3.2

Elite (national)

Sub-elite (regional)

1 × 6-month season

Player self-report fortnightly via email/phone questioning

Lower limb dominance and asymmetry assessments during preseason.

Lower limb only

McKay et al. 1996 [31]

AUS

9,190 participants

159 netball injuries

27.2 ± 7.8

Elite/Recreational (club)

2 × seasons

1991–1992

Courtside injury observers (physiotherapy students/St John’s Ambulance First Aiders) Questionnaire completed by players; Phone follow-up to obtain treatment sought and time loss.

All injuries

McManus et al. 2006 [32]

AUS

368 participants

272 netball injuries

Majority (66%) 16–30

Recreational (club)

2 × seasons

1997–1998

Baseline questionnaire then telephone interviews every 4 weeks throughout season.

All injuries

Pickering Rodriguez et al. 2017 [33]

AUS/NZ

29 participants

12 lower body netball injuries

24.1 ± 3.2

Elite/Sub-elite

1 × season

2013

Injuries: Elite—team physiotherapist; Sub-elite—self-report.

Preseason lower limb stiffness measures.

Lower body non-contact injuries

Pringle et al. 1998 [34]

NZ

1512 participants

15 netball injuries

6–15

Recreational (club)

4 weeks of season

Trained observers (physiotherapy or sports science students) observed games and recorded injuries on incident form over 4 weeks; Post-game interview with player; Telephone follow-up by physiotherapist within 3 days and then after one week (diagnosis and time loss).

All injuries

Stevenson et al. 2000 [21]

AUS

258 participants

112 netball injuries

22 ± 8

(13.6-30.4)

Recreational (club)

1 × 5-month season 1997

Baseline questionnaire then telephone interviews every 4 weeks throughout season.

All injuries

Zulkarnain et al. 2019 [35]

Malaysia

42 participants

Intervention (IG) n = 17

Control (CG) n = 25

31 injuries

IG 21. ± 2 1.8

CG 20.9 ± 1.9

Club/District 23.9%

State 60.9%

National 15.2%

6 weeks post intervention

Study compared 6-week safe-landing technique injury prevention program (Down 2 Earth) to standard training program; injuries recorded for 6 weeks following the intervention period.

Lower limb injuries

Hopper and Elliot 1993 [17]

AUS

228 participants

52 netball injuries

U16 14.8 ± 0.4

U21 19.2 ± 2.2

Open 23.7±3.6

Elite/Sub-elite

Multi-day Tournament

1988

Player baseline questionnaire and podiatric assessment of lower limbs and back.

Injuries assessed and recorded by physiotherapists; players completed questionnaire regarding events relating to the injury.

Lower limb and back injuries only

Hopper 1997 [20]

AUS

213 participants

52 netball injuries

U16 14.8 ± 0.4

U21 19.2 ± 2.2

Open 23.7±3.6

Elite/Sub-elite

Multi-day Tournament

1988

Player baseline questionnaire and podiatric assessment of lower limbs and back.

Injuries assessed and recorded by physiotherapists; players completed questionnaire regarding events relating to the injury; somatotype assessed.

Lower limb and back injuries only

Hume et al. 2000 [36]

AUS

940 participants

131 netball injuries

18.4 ± 4.4

U17, U19, U23, Open

Sub-elite

Multi-day Tournament

(State)

Injured players completed a 5-page questionnaire; Injury treatment provided by physiotherapists, sports trainers, St John’s First Aid personnel, Sports Medicine Australia Van personnel, coaches, or self-treatment.

All injuries

Langeveld et al. 2012 [18]

SA

1280 participants

205 netball injuries to 192 players

U19, U21, Open, USSA

Elite/Sub-elite

3 × Multi-day Tournaments

2009

Injury questionnaire completed by specifically-trained medical staff, team managers or coaches.

All injuries

Coetzee et al. 2014 [19]

SA

1280 participants

205 netball injuries to 192 players

U19, U21, Open, USSA

Elite/Sub-elite

3 × Multi-day Tournaments

2009

Injury questionnaire completed by specifically-trained medical staff, team managers or coaches and questionnaire completed by players re training history and injury prevention practices.

All injuries

Smyth et al. 2019 [37]

AUS

192 participants

103 injuries to 80 players

U17

U19

Pre-elite

6 Day Tournament 2018

Medical attention injuries diagnosed by physiotherapists and recorded whether the athlete could continue to play immediately after the injury. Players completed a Health Problems Questionnaire which provided additional indications of injuries and effects.

All injuries

Attenborough et al. 2016 [38]

AUS

96 participants

69 previous ankle injuries

ID 19.4 ± 3.5

Club 24.1 ± 7.9

Inter-district/Recreational (club)

All previous ankle injuries

Participant questionnaire including ankle sprain history; assessment with Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool—Youth and ankle joint laxity (arthrometer).

Recurrent ankle injuries

Finch et al. 2006 [39]

AUS

1084 residents

648 all sports/activities 34 netball injuries

> 5

Recreational

All sport or active recreation injuries in previous 2 weeks

Household telephone survey.

All injuries

Hopper and Elliot 1993 [17]

AUS

228 participants

504 netball injuries

U16 14.8 ± 0.4

U21 19.2 ± 2.2

Open 23.7±3.6

Elite/Sub-elite

All previous lower limb and back injuries

Questionnaire: injury history, age, playing position, playing experience, use of orthosis, perceived reasons for injury

Podiatric assessments of lower limb and back, including foot type.

Lower limb and back injuries

Hopper et al. 1994 [40]

AUS

204 participants

188 injured players

449 lower limb injuries

U16 14.8 ± NR

U21 19.1 ± NR

Open 23.7 ± NR

Elite/Sub-elite

All previous lower limb injuries

Questionnaire and foot assessments as per Hopper et al. 1993. 5 categories of foot types: normal, pronating with rearfoot abnormalities, pronating with forefoot abnormalities, non-pronating, other.

Lower limb injuries

Pillay et al. 2012 [41]

SA

254 participants

301 netball injuries

157 players injured

Nat 24.3 ± 6.3

State 23.9± 5.1

Club 24.2 ± 4.3

Elite/Sub elite

All injuries in previous season

Questionnaire completed by netball players at tournament.

All injuries

Singh et al. 2013 [42]

Jamaica

59 participants

70 netball injuries

U16, U21, Senior

Elite

All previous injuries

Questionnaire—self-reported player characteristics, injuries, factors associated with injury.

All injuries

Smith et al. 2005 [43]

AUS

200 participants

69 players injured

6–16

11 ± 2.5

Competitive to recreational (club)

All previous injuries

Questionnaire—self-reported player characteristics, injuries, preventative equipment use

Joint hypermobility assessed using Beighton index.

All injuries

Stuelcken et al. 2016 [44]

AUS

16 elite players with ACL injuries

Not reported

Elite

Televised games

Medically diagnosed injury; Video analysis of circumstances of injury.

ACL injuries

Whatman et al. 2017 [45]

NZ

166 female participants

16 ± 1

Secondary school

Overuse knee and ankle injuries in previous 12 months

Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse Injury Questionnaire re knee (n = 106 completed) and ankle (n = 113 completed).

Knee and ankle overuse injuries

Hospital, clinic or insurance records

Cassell et al. 2003 [46]

AUS

2300 all sports

81 netball to ED

67 netball to GP

> 4

Mostly recreational

1 year

Netball-related ED presentations from Victorian Injury Surveillance System.

Netball-related GP presentations from Extended Latrobe Valley Injury Surveillance (ELVIS) project.

ED and GP presentations

Chong et al. 2004 [47]

Singapore

13 female ACL injuries

4 netball injuries

13–38

School/Club

4 years

Female ACL injuries at regional Singapore hospital

Female ACL injuries

Fernando et al. 2018 [9]

AUS

5483 netball injury presentation to ED

> 5

All

3 years

Mid 2012–Mid 2015

Presentations of Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset in Victoria NSW.

All presentations

Finch et al. 1998 [6]

AUS

2,165 child netball injuries

3,098 adult netball injuries

< 15

> 15

Mostly recreational

5 years

Sport and active recreation injury cases at selected hospital emergency departments from 1989–1993; standardised data collection form completed by injured player (age, sex, sport, context of injury) and treating doctor (diagnosis, treatment details).

Emergency department injury cases

Flood et al. 2009 [48]

AUS

4,596 netball injuries

> 5

26.3 ± 10.9

All

5 years

2000–2004

Netball-related hospital admissions from the National Hospital Morbidity Database; includes data from all public and most private hospitals.

Hospital admissions

Gwynne-Jones et al. 2011 [49]

NZ

363 Achilles injuries

285 sports injuries

88 netball injuries

15–60

All

8.5 years

1999–2008

Participants identified through emergency department, in patient, surgical audit and physiotherapy department records.

Achilles tendon rupture

Hassan et al. 2001 [50]

UK

54 netball injuries

13 netball fractures

5–15

Children

1 year

1997–1998

District General Hospital accident and emergency department.

Fractures

Hon et al. 2001 [51]

Malaysia

113 sports injuries

3 netball injuries

7–59

Competitive/

recreational

1 year

1998–1999

Patients reporting to Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology of Seremban Hospital with fractures sustained during sporting activity.

Fractures

Hume 1993 [23]

NZ

143 hospitalisations

284 netball in ED

1420 insurance claims

298 sports injury clinic

5–15

> 15

All

Most 1 year

Clinic 1.7 years

Multiple sources: hospitalisation morbidity data (1 year); Dunedin Hospital Emergency (A&E) Department data (1 year); Accident Compensation Corporation (insurance) claims (1 year); Dunedin Sports Injury Clinic data (1.7 years).

Population and netball participation data from government sources.

All presentations and claims

Hume et al. 1994 [24]

NZ

139 hospitalisations

No fatal injuries

3.2% of all injuries

89.3 injuries/100,000

1420 Insurance claims—netball 5.3%

279 ED—netball 7.6%

169 Sports clinic—netball 27.3%

All

All

Mostly 1 year

Mortality 10 years

Multiple sources: HIS mortality data (10 years); hospitalisation morbidity data (1 year); Dunedin Hospital Emergency (A&E) Department data (1 year); Accident Compensation Corporation (insurance) claims (1 year); Dunedin Sports Injury Clinic data (1 year).

All presentations and claims

Joseph et al. 2019 [3]

AUS

1215 approved insurance claims

34 ± 17

All

1 year

2016

Netball Australia National Risk Protection Accident Insurance Program data for 2016. Covers all registered players in competitions organised by Netball Australia. Covers training and matches.

All approved claims

King et al. 2019 [52]

NZ

11748 mod-serious

Females 10,061

Males 1687

9 serious claims (all female)

All

5 years

2012–2016

NZ Accident Compensation Corporation data over 5 years on acute personal injury claims. Data collected in standardised manner when present to medical practitioner.

Moderate to serious and serious injuries

Kirkwood et al. 2019 [8]

UK

N = 154 netball attendances (98% female)

0–19

All

2.25 years

Jan 2012–Mar 2014

Injuries incurred during netball participation.

All ED attendances

Love et al. 1998 [53]

NZ

260 netball dental insurance claims

0–75+

All

4 years

1993–1996

New Zealand Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (ACC) database of dental claims related to sports injuries for 4 years.

Dental claims

Otago et al. 2007 [54]

AUS

829 netball injuries

> 10

All

1 year

1999

Insurance claims (accepted) for netball injuries over 12 months.

Insurance claims

Purdam 1987 [16]

AUS

20 Netball participants

105 netball injuries

Not reported

Elite

0.83 year

1986

Physiotherapy department records at the Australian Institute of Sport

All treated

Smartt et al. 2009 [55]

NZ

1126 netball injuries

Male 215; Female 911

5–82

29 ± NR

All

6 years

2000–2005

Hospital inpatients related to netball injury; data also linked to injury entitlement claims

Participation in netball estimated from national survey data.

Hospital admissions