Trends in time-loss injuries during the 2011-2016 South African Rugby Youth Weeks.

Youth rugby is a popular sport in South Africa (SA) with a high injury incidence. The annual SA Rugby Youth Week tournaments attract the top age-group players in the country providing a sample of players for reliable injury surveillance. The aim of the study was to analyze the changes in time-loss injury rates at the SA Rugby Youth Week tournaments between 2011 and 2016, differences between age-groups, and to investigate associated injury risk factors. All confirmed time-loss injuries at the 4 age-group tournaments (under-13, under-16, and 2 under-18) from 2011 to 2016 were recorded. Injury incidence densities (IID) for years, tournaments, and injury risk factors were calculated and Poisson regression analyses were performed to determine differences. Time-loss injuries (n = 494) were reported over 24 240 exposure hours, with an overall IID of 20.4 (18.6-22.2) injuries per 1000 player hours. The year 2013 had a significantly lower IID compared to 2011. Injury risk decreased with increasing age; under-13 and under-16 had significantly higher IID compared to under-18 Craven Week. Tackling was the phase of play at highest risk, with an IID of 7.4 (6.3-8.5) injuries per 1000 player hours. Central/peripheral nervous system (CNS/PNS) and, therefore, the head/neck were the most commonly occurring injuries/location injured. In conclusion, within the SA Rugby tournament structure, the older players had a decreased rate of injury. The tackle event was still the phase of play with the highest injury incidence regardless of age. This increase in incidence is largely due to an increase in CNS/PNS injuries.

Non-sanctioning of illegal tackles in South African youth community rugby.

OBJECTIVES: The tackle event in rugby union ('rugby') contributes to the majority of players' injuries. Referees can reduce this risk by sanctioning dangerous tackles. A study in elite adult rugby suggests that referees only sanction a minority of illegal tackles. The aim of this study was to assess if this finding was similar in youth community rugby. DESIGN: Observational study. METHODS: Using EncodePro, 99 South African Rugby Union U18 Youth Week tournament matches were coded between 2011 and 2015. All tackles were coded by a researcher and an international referee to ensure that laws were interpreted correctly. The inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were 0.97-1.00. A regression analysis compared the non-sanctioned rates over time. RESULTS: In total, 12 216 tackles were coded, of which less than 1% (n=113) were 'illegal'. The majority of the 113 illegal tackles were front-on (75%), high tackles (72%) and occurred in the 2nd/4th quarters (29% each). Of the illegal tackles, only 59% were sanctioned. The proportions of illegal tackles and sanctioning of these illegal tackles to all tackles improved by 0.2% per year from 2011-2015 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In these youth community rugby players, 59% of illegal tackles were not sanctioned appropriately. This was better than a previous study in elite adult rugby, where only 7% of illegal tackles were penalised. Moreover, the rates of illegal tackles and non-sanctioned illegal tackles both improved over time. However, it is critical that referees consistently enforce all laws to enhance injury prevention efforts. Further studies should investigate the reasons for non-sanctioning.

Black generation Y students' attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco and alcohol consumption

This article reports on a study undertaken to determine Black Generation Y students' attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco and consequent attitudes towards the demarketing of alcohol consumption in South Africa. As governments around the world; including South Africa; seek to tackle growing health care costs; so unhealthy consumption behaviours are increasingly coming under the spotlight. Tobacco smoking and; more recently excessive alcohol consumption; are two of such consumption behaviours that have received particular attention in recent years; with different demarketing strategies being implemented in an effort to dissuade the consumption thereof. While the effectiveness of these demarketing strategies may be measured directly by looking at changes in demand levels; little is known concerning consumer attitudes towards these strategies; even though an essential prerequisite for achieving their beneficial effects may depend on consumers having a positive attitude towards these strategies. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 400 Black Generation Y students registered at two South African higher education institutions situated in the Gauteng province. The captured data were analysed using z-tests; Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation and regression analysis. The findings indicate that Black Generation Y students have a statistically significant positive attitude towards both the demarketing of tobacco and alcohol consumption; and their attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco serve as an important predictor to their attitudes towards the more recently proposed demarketing of alcohol consumption in South Africa

The occlusal status of an urban and a rural Venda group.

The occlusal status of Venda school children of the town of Thohoyandou, and of a rural community in the Tshikundamalema district was determined. This comparison made it possible to eliminate racial differences as a contributing factor to malocclusions. The occlusal index of Summers was used to determine the occlusal status of 342 subjects. Positive O.I. scores were obtained for 78.9 per cent of the subjects. Twenty-eight per cent of the children required orthodontic treatment and 12 per cent treatment of a specialised nature with fixed appliances. Syndrome D (tooth displacement) occurred in 42 per cent of those requiring treatment. Class I molar relationships were seen in 96.8 per cent. The difference in positive O.I. scores between urban and rural children was highly significant (p < 0.01). The mean O.I. scores also differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the two communities. A highly significant difference (p = 0.0002) in orthodontic treatment needs was also demonstrated between urban and rural children. This study shows that environmental factors and extraction of teeth in areas where a comprehensive dental service is not available could contribute to malocclusion.