Lauren V Fortington

• PhD, B.P&O
• Senior Researcher at Edith Cowan University

Objective: To determine mortality rates after a first lower limb amputation and explore the rates for different subpopulations. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of all people who underwent a first amputation at or proximal to transtibial level, in an area of 1.7 million people. Analysis with Kaplan-Meier curves and Log Rank tests for univaria...

Background Exercise-based training programmes are commonly used to prevent sports injuries but programme effectiveness within community men's team sport is largely unknown. Objective To present the intention-to-treat analysis of injury outcomes from a clustered randomised controlled trial in community Australian football. Methods Players from 18 ma...

Objectives: Australian Football League (AFL) players have a high risk of injury. Anecdotally, this injury risk is greater in emerging players (i.e. those in their first year), compared with established players (with 3+ years of experience). This study aimed to conduct the first comparison of injury risk and playing experience in these two player g...

Objectives To obtain benefits from sports injury prevention programs, players are instructed to perform the exercises as prescribed. We developed an observational checklist to measure the quality of exercise performance by players participating in FootyFirst, a coach-led, exercise-based, lower-limb injury prevention program in community Australian...

Background To identify and prioritise targets for injury prevention efforts, injury incidence studies are widely reported. The accuracy and consistency in calculation and reporting of injury incidence is crucial. Many individuals experience more than one injury but multiple injuries are not consistently reported in sport injury incidence studies. O...

Objectives: To explore the potential association between rapid weight changes and self-reported injury status (presence or absence of injury) 7 days following competitive events among male and female combat sports competitors. Design: A 14-month study of 24 events. Methods: A weight management questionnaire was completed 1-day post-competition, and...

This study investigates the rapid weight loss (RWL) and rapid weight gain (RWG) of contest winners and losers from Muay Thai (MT) and mixed martial arts (MMA) events. The relationship between rapid weight change variables of males and females, and competitive success is also examined. Data from a weight management questionnaire was collected one da...

Concussions in contact sports are challenging for athletes, health professionals and sporting bodies to prevent, detect and manage. Design of interventions for primary prevention, early recognition of concussion and continuing to improve postconcussion management are essential for protecting athletes and promoting brain health. Over the last decade...

Introduction Musculoskeletal injury patterns are under-investigated in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. Subsequently, more evidence is needed to support injury prevention processes in this population. One difficulty in collecting injury information to monitor injury patterns within combat populations accurately is known injury concealment behav...

Determining whether repetitive head impacts (RHI) cause the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)-neuropathological change (NC) and whether pathological changes cause clinical syndromes are topics of considerable interest to the global sports medicine community. In 2022, an article was published that used the Bradford Hill criteria...

Combat sports athletes often undergo rapid body mass loss (BML), which presents health risks. Hydration testing has been proposed as a possible solution to reduce or eliminate rapid BML. However, combat sports athletes may exhibit distinct physiological characteristics due to repeated exposure to BML. Thus, traditional and emerging hydration biomar...

Objectives: To compare prevalence and change scores of disordered eating (DE) in combat sport athletes by sex and explore the potential relationship between rapid weight loss (RWL) and DE scores.Design: Prospective study based on 24 events (September 2022–2023). Methods: A body mass (BM) questionnaire was completed at ~1 day post-competition provid...

INTRODUCTION & AIMS Supporting people with Parkinson’s Disease to remain active when living in residential aged care (RAC) is assumed to have benefits, such as reducing falls risk, improving ability to transfer independently, and reducing time spent being sedentary. However, many RAC-facilities are under-resourced making it difficult for staff to s...

INTRODUCTION & AIMS The HEALTMing Mental Health (HEALTM-MH) program was a free community-based program offered by Exercise & Sport Science Australia, supported by the Australian Sports Commission, Sport Australia Participation Grants program. HEALTM-MH was targeted at Australians living with mental health conditions in rural or remote areas. Our ai...

Background The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has supported collating and sharing evidence globally by developing sports medicine consensus statements (‘Statements’'). Publishing the Statements requires substantial resources that must be balanced by use and impact on policy and practice. This study aimed to...

Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the incidence, severity, and burden of injury in starting and replacement players from professional men’s teams of five rugby unions. Methods Match injuries of greater than 24 h time-loss (including data on the severity, match quarter, event, body region) and player minutes of match exposure data wer...

This study aimed to evaluate short-term outcomes of the HEAL™ing Mental Health program, an 8-week intervention for change in functional, behavioural and physiological health and wellbeing designed for people living with mental health conditions in rural or regional areas of Australia. A prospective cohort study was completed, reporting on 19 items...

This study investigated (a) differences between males and females for changes in serum, tear, and urine osmolality, hematocrit, and urine specific gravity following acute passive dehydration and (b) assessed the reliability of these biomarkers separately for each sex. Fifteen males (age: 26.3 ± 3.5 years, body mass: 76 ± 7 kg) and 15 females (age:...

Introduction: The sport of rugby union, (henceforth rugby), is associated with a risk of spinal cord injury (SCI). Perceived risks can impact participation. Understanding community perspectives of rugby-related SCI may provide insight for addressing concerns around risk. The aim of this study was to explore community perspectives through social me...

OBJECTIVE: The validity of existing fear avoidance behavior patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for concussion is unknown. This study aims to (1) identify PROMs that assess fear avoidance behavior in individuals with concussion and (2) assess the measurement properties of these PROMs. DESIGN: A systematic review of outcome measurement instrum...

Background A comprehensive examination of the sport-specific activities and circumstances being performed at the time of injury is important to hypothesise mechanisms, develop prevention strategies and inform future investigations. Results reported in the literature are inconsistent because inciting activities are reported using different classific...

Objective: The aim in this study was to quantify the number, nature, and severity of injuries sustained by male and female high school students who took part in a running training program that culminated in the completion of a half or full marathon. Design: This study is a retrospective clinical audit. Methods: Injury reports from high school...

Background Research evidence is commonly compiled into expert-agreed consensus statements or guidelines, with an increasing trend towards their publication in peer-reviewed journals. Prominent among these has been the publication of several International Olympic Committee (IOC) tatements to help inform sport and exercise medicine (SEM) practice. Th...

Objectives Research evidence is commonly compiled into expert-informed consensus guidelines intended to consolidate and distribute sports medicine knowledge. Between 2003 and 2018, 27 International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus statements were produced. This study explored the policy and practice impact of the IOC Statements on athlete health a...

Objectives This study aims to quantify injury claims in organised community cricket in New Zealand over a 10-year period, 1 July, 2008 to June 30, 2018. Design Retrospective analysis of administrative insurance claims data from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), New Zealand. Methods Injuries claims relating to cricket in males and femal...

Objectives Ladies Gaelic football (LGF) is a popular women's sport in Ireland and internationally. The demands of LGF put players at risk of injury, but injury reporting remains limited to short-term studies. An injury fund is available to LGF players for claims to cover excess medical bills/lost wages, facilitating a longitudinal analysis of claim...

Objectives To determine the direct and indirect costs of injuries in sub-elite footballers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, stratified by injury location, type, sex and age groups. Design Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods A de-identified insurance database containing three seasons (2018–2020) of football injuries in NSW was used to d...

Active participation in the outdoors is beneficial for health and wellbeing. However, the impact of extreme weather, particularly heat, on safe participation is causing concern for organisations who lead these activities. Local mitigation strategies and acute management of heat- and sun-related illness (HSRI) are generally well understood by resear...

Musculoskeletal injury mitigation is a priority in military organisations to protect personnel health and sustain a capable workforce. Despite efforts to prevent injury, inconsistencies exist in the evidence used to support these activities. There are many known limitations in the injury surveillance data reported in previous Special Operation Forc...

Background The IOC Sports Medical and Scientific Commission has supported the development and dissemination of sports medicine consensus statements for athlete health. Evidence on the relevance and dissemination of these statements is important for the development of future statements. Objective The objective of this project was to investigate the...

Background The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has a goal to provide guidance on athlete health for sports organisations. One strategy to meet this goal has been the development and publication of sports medicine consensus statements. It is currently unknown if there has been use of the consensus statements o...

Background One of the goals of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission is to provide guidance in relation to injury prevention and the protection of athlete health. One way of meeting this goal is the development and dissemination of sports medicine consensus statements. It is not known if, or how, these consensu...

Background There have been 27 consensus statements published under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission with a goal of contributing to the mission of injury prevention and protection of athlete health. The success of these statements in achieving this goal has not been evaluated. Knowledge management (KM) cons...

Background The IOC Medical and Scientific commission’s mission is to provide a guiding reference for sports organisations on issues relating to the protection of the health of athletes. One strategy to achieve this mission is through supporting the development of consensus statements. Objective This study investigates the relevance and disseminati...

Injuries and fractures tend to be considered an inevitable part of sports participation. In this chapter, long-standing principles from injury prevention science, using a structured and systematic approach, are applied to the problem of injuries in sports, specifically acute and stress fractures. With an understanding of the scale and burden of the...

Jockey injuries are common in professional horse-racing and can result in life-threatening or career-ending outcomes. Robust injury data are essential to understand the circumstances of injury occurrence and ultimately identify prevention opportunities. This study aimed to identify jockey injury surveillance practices of international horse-racing...

Introduction Sport and recreation is beneficial for health and wellbeing but comes with a probability of loss, including occasional fatal injuries. Following high-profile injury deaths in Australia, concerns are raised regarding the safety of sport participation. To understand the scale and scope of injury deaths, and identify potential prevention...

Objectives: To describe the number and case characteristics of sport and recreation-related exertional heat deaths in Australia and summarise recommendations derived from case narratives. Design: Descriptive, population-based, retrospective cohort study. Methods: Cases were identified using the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) throu...

Introduction Special Operations Forces conduct military activities using specialised and unconventional techniques that offer a unique and complementary capability to conventional forces. These activities expose Special Operations Forces personnel to different injury risks in comparison with personnel in the conventional forces. Consequently, diffe...

Objectives Heat injuries have become a considerable health risk for sport and exercise participants in Australia. This study seeks to update the Australian sports case numbers by considering data from hospital admission and emergency department (ED) presentations (collectively referred to as total hospitalisations). Specifically, this study aimed t...

Introduction A voluntary State Government-led programme in Victoria, Australia ‘Defibrillators for Sporting Clubs and Facilities Program’ ran from 2015 to 2019, broadly aimed at increasing access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs), together with a greater number of community members trained for management of medical emergencies. This study...

Objectives Cricket is a popular sport enjoyed worldwide. Injuries in cricket are not well understood at community level but are important to understand for prevention to ensure the game continues to be enjoyed safely. This systematic review was designed to assess the quality of data collection and reporting, and to summarise the injury data, in stu...

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common and debilitating chronic joint conditions in Australia. A National Osteoarthritis Strategy (the Strategy) was developed to outline a national plan to achieve optimal health outcomes for people at risk of, or with, OA. Objective: This article focuses on the theme of prevention of OA within...

Injuries and fractures tend to be considered an inevitable part of sports participation. In this chapter, long-standing principles from injury prevention science, using a structured and systematic approach, are applied to the problem of injuries in sports, specifically acute and stress fractures. With an understanding of the scale and burden of the...

Objectives To conduct a document and content analysis of exertional heat illness (EHI)-related documents published by sports organisations in Victoria, Australia, in order to determine their scope and evidence base against current international best practice recommendations. Methods A qualitative document and content analysis. Official documents r...

Objectives The aim was to identify and describe outcomes from original published studies that present the number, nature, mechanism and severity of medically treated injuries sustained in community-level cricket. Design Systematic review. Methods Nine databases were systematically searched to December 2019 using terms “cricket*” and “injur*”. Ori...

In 2013, the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Overuse Injury Questionnaire (OSTRC-O) was developed to record the magnitude, symptoms and consequences of overuse injuries in sport. Shortly afterwards, a modified version of the OSTRC-O was developed to capture all types of injuries and illnesses—The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire...

Objective: This systematic review summarises reports of the incidence of exertional heat illnesses (EHI) in organised sports, to examine any trends in the EHI incidence over time, and to describe EHI incidence based on sporting activity, geographic location, and type of EHI. Method: Three electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, SportDiscuss) were...

In terms of safeguarding the health and well-being of athletes in Sri Lanka, a primary focus has always been toward the treatment of injuries after they have occurred and promoting rehabilitation back into sport. There has been little attention towards the primary prevention of injuries in Sri Lankan sports. As a developing sporting nation, the ben...

Objectives: To identify availability and accessibility of AEDs in Irish GAA clubs and the knowledge, willingness and confidence of club members to use AEDs in a medical emergency. Methods: A self-report survey was completed anonymously by GAA club members (n=267). The survey captured demographic information, previous formal AED training, awarene...

Objectives: To analyse the characteristics of injuries sustained by elite sprint kayak athletes, to investigate relationships between initial and subsequent injuries, and to examine injury differences between male and female athletes. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Data from 63 athletes (37 male, 26 female) of the Australian...

Objective There is a growing focus on ensuring the availability of automated external defibrillators (AED) in sport settings to assist in preventing sudden cardiac death. For the AED to be most effective, understanding how best to integrate it with wider risk management and emergency action plans (EAP) is needed. The aim of this survey was to ident...

Camogie is one of Ireland’s most popular sports, and the full contact nature presents a high potential for injury. This study aims to present the first overview of elite and non-elite camogie injuries by examining adult players’ self-reported worst injuries from one season. At least one injury was sustained by 88.2% of camogie players during the pr...

Objectives Exertional heat illnesses (EHI) can occur when sport is played in hot and humid environments, such as those common across Asia. Measures to reduce the risk of EHI are important; however, causal data on EHI occurrence are limited and challenging to capture. To gain an initial understanding of EHI risks, we aimed to assess the risk percept...

Background: The original subsequent injury categorisation (SIC-1.0) model aimed to classify relationships between chronological injury sequences to provide insight into the complexity and causation of subsequent injury occurrence. An updated model has recently been published. Comparison of the data coded according to the original and revised subse...

Background: Injuries are common in rugby sevens, but studies to date have been limited to short, noncontinuous periods and reporting of match injuries only. Purpose: To report the injury incidence rate (IIR), severity, and burden of injuries sustained by men and women in the Australian rugby sevens program and to provide the first longitudinal i...

Objectives Understanding the nature of injuries in cricket is key to mitigate injury risks and prioritise preventive measures. This study aimed to identify the incidence and nature of match injuries among Sri Lankan junior cricketers. Design Longitudinal follow-up study with prospective in-season data collection. Methods A national survey of scho...

Background ‘How much change in training load is too much before injury is sustained, among different athletes?’ is a key question in sports medicine and sports science. To address this question the investigator/practitioner must analyse exposure variables that change over time, such as change in training load. Very few studies have included time-va...

Background Time-to-event modelling is underutilised in sports injury research. Still, sports injury researchers have been encouraged to consider time-to-event analyses as a powerful alternative to other statistical methods. Therefore, it is important to shed light on statistical approaches suitable for analysing training load related key-questions...

Background: Accounting for subsequent injuries is critical for sports injury epidemiology. The subsequent injury categorisation (SIC-1.0) model was developed to create a framework for accurate categorisation of subsequent injuries but its operationalisation has been challenging. Objectives: The objective of this study was to update the subsequen...

Background: Tendon pathology on imaging has been associated with an increased risk of developing symptoms. This evidence is based on classifying the tendon as normal or pathological. It is unclear whether the extent of tendon pathology is associated with the development or severity of symptoms. Objectives: To investigate whether the presence and...

Objective: To investigate whether the mean cross-sectional area (mCSA) of aligned fibrillar structure (AFS) was associated with the presence and severity of symptoms. Design: Prospective cohort study. Participants: One hundred seventy-five elite male Australian football players completed monthly Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center overuse injur...

Background and aims Research investigating differences in pain location and distribution across conditions is lacking. Mapping a patient’s pain may be a useful way of understanding differences in presentations, however the use of pain mapping during a pain provocation task has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the reliabili...

Objective: To undertake a historical review of direct trauma-related deaths in Australian cricket, both organised and informal. Design, setting and participants: We conducted an extensive search of digitised print media (three databases) and traditional scientific literature (two databases) for on-field cricket incidents in Australia that result...

Objective: To undertake a historical review of direct trauma-related deaths in Australian cricket, both organised and informal. Design, setting and participants: We conducted an extensive search of digitised print media (three databases) and traditional scientific literature (two databases) for on-field cricket incidents in Australia that result...

Background Little is known about the prevalence and associated of morbidity of tendon problems. With only severe cases of tendon problems missing games, players that have their training and performance impacted are not captured by traditional injury surveillance. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of Achilles and patellar tendon pro...

Introduction Despite detailed recommendations for sports injury data capture provided since the mid-1990s, international data collection efforts for sport-related death remains limited in scope. The purpose of this paper was to review the data sources available for studying sport-related death and describe their key features, coverage, accessibilit...

Background The most recent report on hospital-treated horse-riding injuries in Victoria was published 20 years ago. Since then, injury countermeasures and new technology have aimed to make horse riding safer for participants. This study provides an update of horse-riding injuries that required hospital treatment in Victoria and examines changes in...

Objectives Cricket is a very popular sport in Sri Lanka. In this setting there has been limited research; specifically, there is little knowledge of cricket injuries. To support future research possibilities, the aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt, translate and test the reliability of an Australian-developed questionnaire for the Sri...

Developing Sinhala and Tamil language versions of the ‘Juniors Enjoying Cricket Safely’ injury risk perception questionnaire

Perceived injury risk among junior cricketers in Sri Lanka: a cross sectional survey

Policies and guidelines for the prevention of exertional heat injury published by sports organisations in Victoria, Australia: a qualitative content analysis