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Objective: To assess whether players who cross =6 time zones and/or undertake =10 h air travel prior to competition experience a higher risk of injury during the Sevens World Series than players not required to undertake this level of travel. Design: Five-year, prospective, cohort study. Participants: All players from nine core teams competing in the Sevens World Series from 2008/2009 to 2013/2014. Results: A total of 436 match injuries and 3363 player-match-hours of exposure were recorded in the study, which corresponds to an overall incidence of 129.6 injuries/1000 player-match-hours, irrespective of the nature of pretournament travel. The incidence of injury for those players crossing =6 time zones and undertaking =10 h air travel prior to competition (99.3 injuries/1000 player-match-hours) was significantly lower than that of players undertaking =10 h air travel but crossing =2 time zones prior to competition (148.8 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.003) and of those undertaking =3 h air travel and crossing =2 time zones prior to competition (146.4 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.004). There was no significant difference in the incidence of injury for players crossing =2 time zones in the week prior to competition, irrespective of whether the length of air travel was =3 h or =10 h (p=0.904). Precompetition air travel had no significant effect (p=0.879) on the performance of teams in terms of their final Tournament ranking positions. Conclusions: There was no evidence to suggest that players were exposed to a greater risk of injury following extensive air travel and crossing multiple time zones prior to Tournaments in the Sevens World Series.
© Copyright 2015 British Journal of Sports Medicine. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd of the BMA. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.