Epidemiology of injuries in amateur boxing: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To synthesise competition and training injury data in amateur boxing. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Pooled estimates of competition injury incidence rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (IIR_AE) and per 1000 min of exposure (IIR_ME), and training injury incidence rates per 1000 h of exposure (IIR_HE) were obtained by fitting random-effects models. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, AMED, AUSPORT, and SPORTDiscus databases were searched from inception to 27 May 2022. Cohort studies with prospectively collected injury and exposure data from amateur boxing competition or training published in peer-reviewed journals were eligible for inclusion. Results: Seventeen studies were eligible for inclusion. The competition IIR_AE and IIR_ME summary estimates were 54.7 (95 % CI 33.8–88.4) and 6.8 (95 % CI 4.2–10.9), respectively. The training IIR_HE summary estimate was 1.3 (95 % CI 0.2–7.0). The most commonly injured body regions in the competition and training settings were the head and neck (median: 72 %; range: 46 % to 100 %) and upper limb (median: 49 %; range: 40 % to 53 %), respectively. The predominant types of injury were contusions (median: 35 %; range: 5 % to 100 %) and lacerations and abrasions (median: 20 %; range: 0 % to 69 %) in the competition setting, and sprains and strains (median: 60 %; range: 50 % to 81 %) in the training setting. Conclusions: Amateur boxing athletes sustain, on average, 1 injury every 2.5 h of competition and every 772 h of training. There is a need for identifying injury mechanisms and modifiable risk factors that can be targeted by preventive measures to reduce the burden of injury in amateur boxing.