@article{ref1,
title="Life after the game - Injury profile of past elite Australian Football players",
journal="Journal of science and medicine in sport",
year="2013",
author="King, Tyler and Rosenberg, Michael and Braham, Rebecca and Ferguson, Renee and Dawson, Brian",
volume="16",
number="4",
pages="302-306",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To investigate the long-term health and well-being of past elite Australian Football League (AFL) players, with particular emphasis on the effect of playing injuries on current lifestyle. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. METHODS: A health and well-being survey, completed by past AFL players (n=592) with mean (±SD) age of 55.1 y (±15.8) and playing career of 7.7 y (±4.1) sought information on demographics, education and employment, subjective well-being, lifestyle behaviours, physical health, disease prevalence, community and social structures, and playing history. RESULTS: A majority of past players experienced serious injuries (76%) and concussion (73%) throughout their career, both increasing significantly with the number of games played. Of those who received injuries, 60% require on-going treatment, yet only 6% receive treatment costs covered by their club or the AFL Players' Association. A large proportion (64%) of respondents are affected in daily life from previous AFL injuries. CONCLUSIONS: AFL careers are compounded by high injury rates, including loss of consciousness with a high incidence of multiple concussions amongst those players reporting a serious injury. Greater number of injuries received will further the likelihood of requiring on-going treatment and being affected later in life. Additional research and planning may be important in assisting other improvements in the quality of life of past AFL players.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1440-2440",
doi="10.1016/j.jsams.2012.09.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2012.09.003"
}