This represents around 3% of injury hospitalisations.
In males, the 15–24 age group had the highest risk, while in females, the 65 and over group had the highest risk.
Injuries from overexertion are represented by the ICD external cause codes X50–57. Overexertion and strenuous or repetitive movements account for almost all hospitalisations in this group.
This chapter summarises data on unintentional injuries only. Intentional injuries and deaths are included under Self-harm injuries and suicide or Assault and homicide.
Deaths from overexertion injuries are rare, and are not discussed in detail below.
In 2020–21, almost all hospitalisations in this group were caused by overexertion and strenuous or repetitive movements (Table 1).
Table 1: Causes of injury in overexertion hospitalisations, 2020–21
Location
|
Hospitalisations
|
%
|
Rate (per 100,000)
|
Overexertion and strenuous or repetitive movements (X50)
|
16,000
|
99.7
|
62.4
|
Travel and motion (X51)
|
23
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
Lack of food or water, or other privation (X52–57)
|
18
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
Total
|
16,041
|
100
|
62.5
|
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
- Codes in brackets refer to the ICD-10-AM (11th edition) external cause codes (ACCD 2019).
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
For more detail, see Data tables B23–24.
Hospital admissions for overexertion injuries do not follow a strong seasonal pattern. Cases typically remain relatively steady throughout the year, with a dip over December and January.
In March 2020, COVID-19 restrictions coincided with a steep decline in hospitalisations for overexertion. This resulted in 30% fewer from March to May than the in same period of the previous year. As initial restrictions eased, hospitalisations rose back towards previous levels (Figure 1).
The interactive display illustrates other seasonal differences in injury hospitalisations.

Notes
1. Admission counts have been standardised into two 15-day periods per month.
2. A scale up factor has been applied to June admissions to account for cases not yet separated.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
Trends over time
The age-standardised rate of injury hospitalisations due to overexertion in 2020–21 was 12% higher than the previous year. The previous year had seen a dip that appears to have been related to COVID-19 restrictions.
Over the period from 2011–12 to 2016–17 there was an average annual increase of 3.7% for the age-standardised rate of hospitalisations (Figure 2).
There is a break in the time series for hospitalisations between 2016–17 and 2017–18, due to a change in data collection methods (see the technical notes for details).
Figure 2: Overexertion injury hospitalisations, by sex and year