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Introduction: To determine the incidence rate and changes over time for ice and snow sports injury in Victoria, Australia, from 2003 to 2012 and describe the most common types and causes of these injuries., Methods: Retrospective data from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit describing hospital admissions and emergency department presentations were extracted for the 10-year period of 2003 to 2012 for all ice- and snow-related injury. Descriptive injury data and participation-adjusted trend analyses using log-linear regression modelling of data (statistical significance, P<0.05) from the Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey 2003 to 2010 are presented., Results: Overall, there were 7387 ice- and snow-related injuries, with a significant increase in hospital-treated snowboard injuries and a (nonsignificant) decline in hospital-treated ski injuries over the 10 years. Skiing (39%) and snowboarding (37%) had the highest incidence of hospital-treated injury, with males aged 15 to 24 years injured most frequently in both sports. Falls were the most common cause of injury in both skiing (68%) and snowboarding (78%)., Conclusions: Patterns of snow sports injury in Australia during 2003 to 2012 remain similar to findings of national studies conducted decades earlier. More importantly, however, Australian injury patterns are comparable to international statistics and thus may be generalizable internationally. Head injuries, although infrequent, are associated with great injury severity due to a high frequency of hospitalization. Furthermore, research into the use of personal protective equipment and other injury prevention measures among Australian participants, particularly by young, male snowboarders, is required. Given the similar injury patterns, injury prevention measures implemented internationally could reasonably translate to an Australian setting., (Copyright © 2018 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Preventing sports injuries in children is important, but there is limited information about children's perceptions of injury risk or their injury beliefs and attitudes. This study investigated injury risk perceptions in a sample of junior sports participants across different age levels of play. Junior cricket players (n=284, aged 8-16) completed a survey about their injury risk perceptions. Survey questions asked about players' perceived injury risk to themselves compared to cricketers in general, as well as their perceived injury risk across different playing position, ground condition, and protective equipment use scenarios. Chi-square analysis found that risk perceptions were significantly higher in U12 and U14 players for both batting and fielding compared to U16 players and that U16 players had a higher risk perception associated with bowling. Players tended to see themselves as less likely to be injured than cricketers in general and perceived there to be a high risk of injury when fielding close to the batter and a comparatively low risk of injury when fielding in the outfield. Junior players also perceived there to be a high injury risk associated with playing on hard and bumpy grounds. Despite their relatively accurate perceptions of risk and appreciation for the importance of protective equipment, junior players need continual reminding of the importance of safety strategies by coaches and others. Coaches need to inform players that fielding injuries can occur anywhere on the ground, and include skills practice accordingly., (Copyright © 2010 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite the health benefits associated with children's sport participation, the occurrence of injury in this context is common. The extent to which sport injuries impact children's ongoing involvement in sport is largely unknown. Surveys have been shown to be useful for collecting children's injury and sport participation data; however, there are currently no published instruments which investigate the impact of injury on children's sport participation. This study describes the processes undertaken to assess the validity of two survey instruments for collecting self-reported information about child cricket and netball related participation, injury history and injury risk perceptions, as well as the reliability of the cricket-specific version. Face and content validity were assessed through expert feedback from primary and secondary level teachers and from representatives of peak sporting bodies for cricket and netball. Test-retest reliability was measured using a sample of 59 child cricketers who completed the survey on two occasions, 3-4 weeks apart. Based on expert feedback relating to face and content validity, modification and/or deletion of some survey items was undertaken. Survey items with low test-retest reliability (κ≤0.40) were modified or deleted, items with moderate reliability (κ=0.41-0.60) were modified slightly and items with higher reliability (κ≥0.61) were retained, with some undergoing minor modifications. This is the first survey of its kind which has been successfully administered to cricketers aged 10-16 years to collect information about injury risk perceptions and intentions for continued sport participation. Implications for its generalisation to other child sport participants are discussed., (Copyright © 2010 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)