Cycling

An estimated 3.7 million Australians cycled for sport in 2020–21 (ASC, 2021).  There were 9,800 injury hospitalisations attributed to cycling as a sport—8,000 male and 1800 female. For those aged 15 and over, the rate of hospitalisation was 200 per 100,000 participants.

Cycling can be a sport, a leisure activity, or a mode of transport. There were 17,300 cycling injury hospitalisations in 2020–21, of which 9,800 were identified as cycling for sport. For more details, see the technical notes.

Injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport have been on an upward trend in the last ten years. Between 2017–18 and 2020–21 the age-standardised rate of hospitalisation increased 57% (Figure 1). AusPlay data shows that the estimated number of adults participating in cycling for sport or exercise increased from 2.3 million to 3.2 million over the same 3 year period (ASC, 2021).

Figure 1: Trend in injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport, by sex, 2011–12 to 2020–21

Visualisation not available for printing

For more detail, see data tables B3–4.

The age distribution of hospitalisations shows a large spike for the 10–14 age group, and then a lower peak at the 45–49 age group (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Age distribution of injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport, 2020–21

Column graph showing the age distribution of injury hospitalisations.

Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A14.

Fractures accounted for over half of these hospitalisations (57%) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport, by type of injury as a proportion, 2020–21

Bar graph showing the proportion of injury hospitalisations by main type of injury.

Note: Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis.
Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A25.

There were 495 hospitalisations for concussion—410 male and 85 female.

The shoulder or arm was the main site of injury in just over a third of cases (37%), while the head and neck accounted for just over 1 in 5 cases (21%) (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport, by body part injured, as a proportion, 2020–21

Outline of a person with body regions labelled, marked with the percentage of hospitalised injuries for each region.

Notes
1. Body part injured is derived from the principal diagnosis.
2. ‘Trunk’ includes thorax, abdomen, lower back, lumbar spine & pelvis.

Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A26.

Seasonal differences

Date of admission data for the past few years suggests that cycling activity has changed since the arrival of COVID-19. Before March of 2020, cycling activity (or at least, the number of cycling injuries) tended to increase in the warmer months. An unusual uptick in injury hospitalisations after March 2020, followed by a peak in September suggests that lockdowns resulted in more cycling activity than previous years (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Injury hospitalisations from cycling for sport, by month of admission, 2017–18 to 2020–21

Alt: Line graph with 4 lines for 4 financial years of hospitalisations by month of admission, illustrating the rise in hospitalisations after March 2020.

For more detail, see data table B3.