Over a one year period Hoy et al (1994) recorded all sports injuries admitted to a Danish accident and emergency hospital unit. Off these a 100 were badminton injuries which comprised 5% of the total sports injury admissions. 

 

This study provides a useful indication of the type and frequency of Badminton injuries in a European country. At the time of publishing Badminton was a well established sport in Denmark with more than 170,000 players who were organised into 650 club networks. During this period 30,254 sports injuries were recorded in this hospital catchment area with 2620 being badminton related injuries (58% men, 42% women) (Total regional population 124,321).

 

These authors used the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) to classify the degree of Badminton injury and reported that 17% were minor 56% and or 27% severe.

 

Most Common Injuries

Injury                                                                %

Ankle sprains                                            56

Fractures                                                    5

Torn ankle ligaments                                  10

Ruptured Achilles tendon                             13

Dislocation                                                 1

Eye Injuries (Minor)                                     3

-------------------------------------------------

Prior injury                                                  9

It would be good to use fig 2 graph here...  maybe re-draw with ref to original paper.

 

 Incidence of Injuries Amongst Players (Data from Hoy etal 1994)

Under                   18 years                            28 per / 1000 per year

Between                18 – 25 years                   45 per / 1000 per year

Over                            25 years                    42 per / 1000 per year

 

  Role Of Warm Up In Badminton (Data from Hoy etal 1994)

• 72% reported their injury occurred during the game in spite of an adequate warm up
• 8% of injuries were reported during training prior to a game
• 16% reported their injury as occurring during a tournament and related it to insufficient warm up

 

This study also infers that warm-ups do not reduce injury occurrence and that injuries are generated most frequently during match play where activity would be at its highest level.

 

 

Study Summary

This study indicated that lower extremities were the most commonly injured by badminton players and that the incidence of injuries as much lower than that seen in other sports e.g. football (Hoy et al 1994). The majority of injuries were minor and hospital admission was only required for Achilles’ rupture and complete rupture of ankle ligaments. The authors conclude that Badminton injuries are primarily characterised with lower limb soft tissue injuries.

 

However, the study also reports that the injuries sustained from playing badminton can result in significant time off work. Badminton injuries resulted in 23% of the individuals being off work for 3 weeks or more and resulted in an average of loss of 8 working days per year from injury, which is significantly higher than for football.

 

Eye injuries, which have been reported as having a high frequency in other studies, were rare with only x3 minor injuries. The authors conclude that Badminton does not present a risk of ocular hazard and do not recommend the use of protective glasses.

 

Hoy et al (1994) concluded that Badminton injuries are less frequent but more severe than those sustained from other sports.

 

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Reference 

 

Hoy K., Lindblad B., Terkelsen C., Helleland H., Terkelsen C. (1994)

Badminton injuries--a prospective epidemiological and socioeconomic study.

Br J Sports Med 1994; 28:276-279.