Does long-distance air travel associated with the Sevens World Series increase players' risk of injury?

Objective To assess whether players who cross >= 6 time zones and/or undertake >= 10 h air travel prior to competition experience a higher risk of injury during the Sevens World Series than players not required to undertake this level of travel. Design Five-year, prospective, cohort study. Participants All players from nine core teams competing in the Sevens World Series from 2008/2009 to 2013/2014. Results A total of 436 match injuries and 3363 player-match-hours of exposure were recorded in the study, which corresponds to an overall incidence of 129.6 injuries/1000 player-match-hours, irrespective of the nature of pretournament travel. The incidence of injury for those players crossing >= 6 time zones and undertaking >= 10 h air travel prior to competition (99.3 injuries/1000 player-match-hours) was significantly lower than that of players undertaking >= 10 h air travel but crossing <= 2 time zones prior to competition (148.8 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.003) and of those undertaking <= 3 h air travel and crossing <= 2 time zones prior to competition (146.4 injuries/1000 player-match-hours; p=0.004). There was no significant difference in the incidence of injury for players crossing <= 2 time zones in the week prior to competition, irrespective of whether the length of air travel was <= 3 h or >= 10 h (p=0.904). Precompetition air travel had no significant effect (p=0.879) on the performance of teams in terms of their final Tournament ranking positions. Conclusions There was no evidence to suggest that players were exposed to a greater risk of injury following extensive air travel and crossing multiple time zones prior to Tournaments in the Sevens World Series.