Table 1.

Prevalence of knee injury in golf, population characteristics and potential injury mechanisms extracted from injury surveys (n = 18) obtained through a systematic search of the literature

References	Cohort	Study type	General injury reports	Knee injury reports
Batt [17]	Amateur golfers: male n = 164, age 49.5 y (17–85), HC 14.2 (2–24); female n = 29, age 53 y (27–83), HC 23.4 (5–36)	Retrospective survey; period unspecified	57% of players reported an incidental or actual injury: 72 acute injuries (while playing golf), 82 chronic injuries (aggravated by playing golf)	Actual injuries: men n = 4 (8%), women n = 0. Incidental injuries: men n = 8 (12%), women n = 2 (12%). Mean age for knee injury during play 35.6 y. Mean age for chronic knee injury 54.6 y. Mean HC of players with knee injury 17.3. Cause for knee injury obtained during play: incorrect swing/mishit 2, uneven ground 2
Dhillon et al. [18]	Amateur golfers: male n = 200, female n = 40, mean age of injured players 51 y	Retrospective verbal interview; period: entire career	193 total injuries. Injury per HC bracket: 0–9 (61.8%), 10–17 (51.8%), 18–36 (36%)	Knee injuries: male n = 18 (18.9%), female n = 1 (6%), total n = 19 (17%)
Finch et al. [26] (in Cabri et al. [6])	Amateur golfers, median age 40.5 y (24–65 y)	Unspecified		Knee injuries total: 18%
Fradkin et al. [19]	Amateur golfers: female n = 522, median age 54 y (16–75), median HC 17 (2–44)	Retrospective survey; period: previous 12 months	184 injuries: 38.6% reported recurring injury. Self-reported injury mechanism: overuse (43.6%), technical error (18%)	Knee injuries total n = 13 (7%). Median age of knee injury group 62 y (highest median age of all groups per injury location)
Fradkin et al. [27]	Amateur golfers n = 547; male 75.9%, female 24.1%	Retrospective assessment of hospital records	Presentations to hospital ED: 10.8% required hospitalization	Knee injuries total n = 4 (4.4%). Golfers aged > 65 y had the highest rate of lower-limb injuries
Fradkin et al. [28]	Amateur golfers n = 304; male 71.4%, female 28.6%, median age 53 y, median HC 13	Retrospective survey; period: previous 12 months	36.5% of subjects reported 111 injuries: 51.4% of injuries required treatment. Self-reported injury mechanism: overuse (29.7%), overexertion (26.1%)	Knee injuries n = 8 (7%). Median age of knee injury group: 66 y (highest median age of all groups per injury location). Median HC for knee injury group: 16.5
Gosheger et al. [5]	Amateur golfers, HC 21.5 ± 14.7, male n = 456, female n = 187; professional golfers, male n = 54, female n = 6, mean age 46.2 ± 17.3 y	Retrospective survey; period: entire career	Amateur injury rate 39.7%, professional injury rate 60%; HC did not affect injury rate in amateurs	Knee injuries: amateur n = 17 (3.2%), professional n = 6 (5.5%), total n = 23 (3.6%). Self-reported overuse knee injury 95.7%. Knee injury symptoms longer than 1 y, n = 7 (30.4%); previous chronic knee injury: 9.5%
Guten [29]	Amateur and professional golfers, 35 right-handed, male n = 28, female n = 7, mean age all players 56 y (21–73), HC 18 (0–48)	2-y case history of reports to a knee clinic		Right knee n = 17, left knee n = 15, bilateral knee n = 3. Type of injury: medial meniscus n = 17, osteoarthritis n = 10, lateral meniscus n = 4, patella chondromalacia n = 2, loose bodies n = 2, total = 35
Hadden et al. [13]	88 professional golfers	Consultation records from British Open physiotherapy service; period: 7 y	88 injuries reported	Knee injuries total: 7%
McCarroll and Gioe [14]	Professional golfers, male n = 127, age 30 y (23–72); female n = 99, age 24 y (22–42)	Retrospective survey; period: entire career	103 men reported 192 injuries; 87 women reported 201 injuries; average of two injuries per player; injuries due to repetitive practice swings 68.7%; injuries occurring during competition 7.3%	Knee injuries: in men n = 14 (7.3%), in women n = 12 (6%), total n = 26 (6.6%). Subjective reports of knee injury timing: impact phase 30.4%, follow- through phase 38.5%
McCarroll et al. [21]	Amateur golfers, age 52 y (15–86); male n = 942, HC 14; female n = 202, HC: 35	Retrospective survey; period unspecified	708 (62%) of those surveyed reported 908 injuries; 1.28 injuries per golfer; male injuries n = 584 (62%); female injuries n = 124 (61%); common self-reported cause of injury: excessive play or practice n = 204; poor swing mechanics n = 150; HC associated with injury rate: < 1–9 (67.5%), 10–17 (61.8%), > 17 (59.0%)	Knee injuries: in men n = 52 (8.9%), in women n = 14 (11.3%); total n = 66 (9.3%)
McHardy et al. [22]	Amateur golfers: male n = 1316, age 54.3 ± 15.3 y, HC 18.1 ± 7.0; female n = 318, age 59.2 ± 12.2 y, HC 26.3 ± 9.5	Retrospective survey; period: previous 12 months	288 subjects reported one or more injuries; average injury rate: 17.6%. Self-reported injury timing: follow-through 30.2%, downswing 17.7%; common self-reported injury mechanism: incorrect swing/poor technique 44.8%, overuse 25.3%; 57.3% of injuries occurred over extended periods	Data extracted manually from publication graphics. Knee injuries total: 8.3%
McHardy et al. [23]	Amateur golfers: male n = 473, age 58.7 ± 13.5 y, HC 17.8 ± 6.5; female n = 115, age 60.8 ± 9.9 y, HC 26.8 ± 9.2	Prospective survey; period: previous 12 months	78 players reported 93 injuries. Self-reported injury mechanism: swing technique 46.2%, overuse 23.7%. Self-reported injury timing: impact 23.7%, follow-through 21.5%, slow onset 13%, downswing 7.5%	Data extracted manually from publication graphics. Knee injuries total: 8.7%
McNicholas et al. [30] (in Cabri et al. [6])	286 amateur and professional golfers, age range 0–70 y	Unspecified		Knee injuries total: 13%
Smith and Hillman [15]	Professional golfers: European PGA tour players	Consultation records from tour physiotherapy van; period: 2 y, 2005, 2006 (36 tournaments)	2328 consultations were considered to be related to injury. Joint and muscular conditions were the most common injury type (92.7%)	Knee injuries total n = 78 (3.4%); 2005 n = 22 (2.1%); 2006 n = 56 (4.3%)
Stude et al. [24]	Amateur golfers: male n = 322, female n = 79	Retrospective survey; period: entire career	12% reported being injured playing golf; 74% reported pain or discomfort subsequent to playing golf; 35% of those with pain believed it interfered with their ability to play	8% of pain reports were localized to the knee
Sugaya et al. [16]	Professional golfers: male tour golfers n = 115, age 35 y (21–54); male senior tour golfers n = 55, age 53 y (50–63); female tour golfers n = 113, age 31 y (20–48)	Retrospective survey; period unspecified	Total injuries n = 458; male tour n = 203; senior male tour n = 102; female tour n = 153	Total knee injuries n = 26 (9%); male tour n = 9 (8%); senior male tour n = 8 (15%); female tour n = 9 (8%)
Thériault et al. [31] (in Thériault and Lachance [25])	Amateur golfers: male n = 378; female n = 217; age range 12–70 y	Retrospective survey; period unspecified	Male injury rate 23.3%; female injury rate 29.0%; total injury rate 25.2%, 1.31 injuries per golfer. Self-reported injury mechanism: overuse 20%, technical errors/deficiencies 62.7%. Injury type: sustained over prolonged period 54.5%, single trauma 45.5%	Total knee injuries 4%

Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation (range) unless otherwise indicated

ED emergency department, HC handicap, PGA Professional Golfers’ Association, y year