An empirical approach for defining acceptable levels of risk: a case study in team sports.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine acceptable levels of risk in sport and to compare these with values used in occupational settings. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. SETTINGS Seven soccer and 11 rugby union teams. SUBJECTS: 140 male athletes and 108 male and 100 female spectators associated with soccer and rugby union teams. MAIN OUTCOMES: Views on acceptable frequencies with which athletes sustain acute injuries of various levels of severity. RESULTS: The responses of athletes and spectators were similar, although spectators consistently indicated a higher acceptable frequency of injury than athletes. There were no significant differences in responses as a function of respondents' gender and age. The results confirmed an inverse relationship between the acceptable frequency of occurrence and the severity of injury, although the relationships identified by the risk-averse and risk-taking minorities within the sample population were widely different. CONCLUSION: The mean frequency-severity risk relationship identified by athletes and spectators in soccer and rugby was similar to the relationship routinely used for risk assessments in industry and commerce.