Increasing trend in the frequency of sports injuries treated at an Australian regional hospital.

Abstract

Understanding the injury burden and how it is changing is important for effective health care provision. Regional hospitals are already experiencing high workloads and emergency department (ED) over- crowding, including that associated with treatment of sports injuries. In New South Wales, the highest rates of hospital-treated sports injuries are in regional and rural areas. Victoria has experienced increasing num- bers of sports injuries requiring hospital treatment sta- tewide. This article investigates the frequency of hospital-treated sports injuries in one large Victorian regional hospital to quantify trends in a regional area and to assess the impact of these injuries on a regional hospital.