Procedural Coding Trends Of Sports Injuries In Women’s U.S. Rugby-7’s Regional Tournaments

PURPOSE: Women’s Rugby-7’s is an Olympic contact-sport associated with a high injury rate. Let alone, there has been a lack of investigation on the actual financial impact of the injuries on women players in the U.S. cohort. Our study aims were to quantify injured player medical costs sustained in a USAR-sanctioned women’s Rugby-7’s series. METHODS: A prospective epidemiology study of injury encounters during a USA Rugby (USAR) Northeast Geographic Union qualifying series. The Rugby Injury Survey & Evaluation (RISE) Report methodology was applied, following the rugby consensus statement. After injury data collection, current procedural terminology (CPT/HCPCS) programs were evaluated for cost analysis using institutional charges in US dollars (US$). Relevant data were evaluated for player provisional diagnosis, severity, and follow-up. RESULTS: There were a reported 249 injuries among adult women rugby-7’s tournament players from 79 rugby-7’s tournament days (2010 to 2015). The net cost (in US $) of medical treatment between 2010 to 2015 was $44,658 ± 703 (n = 249). Upon further stratification, players with new injuries costing $29,431, and players with recurring injuries costing $15,022. The back positions had the highest total treatments costs at $33,110 ± 2,211 (n = 141) compared to forward positions at $11,154 ± 359 (n = 97). Ankle sprains, concussions, and fractures were among the most frequent ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding in women players. The highest costs were fractures ($6,006) and ankle sprains ($3,717). CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes procedural coding trends among U.S. Women’s Rugby-7’s regional tournaments. Injuries with the highest costs were likely to have a longer reported absence from play, and often required more procedural codes being used for imaging and surgical intervention. Moreover, the increase in costs over time possibly indicates the growth of rugby prior to its 2016 Olympic inclusion. A future direction with this study will be to provide a further understanding of medical costs for female participants, post-professionalism, in addition to real-time quantification of supply-use trends with its relevant procedural terminology.