It’s the fastest growing sport in the nation, but it’s not just pickleball’s popularity that is rising. Injuries related to the game have also increased, along with the associated health care costs.
This is especially true among older Americans, according to an analysis by the bank UBS.
Why does an investment bank care about pickleball injuries? UnitedHealth Group, whose stock it covers, said “health care utilization rates have jumped in recent months among Medicare users,” CBS News reported.
After analyzing data from studies about the sport, UBS analyst Andrew Mok estimated pickleball injuries were creating $250 million to $500 million in medical costs each year, Axios reported.
Eight in 10 of those injuries are to players 60 years or older, which means Medicare is picking up about 85% of the bill.
“While we generally think of exercise as positively impacting health outcomes, the ‘can-do’ attitude of today’s seniors can pose greater risk in other areas such as sports injuries, leading to a greater number of orthopedic procedures,” UBS analysts wrote. “The heightened injury risk is especially true when considering that seniors’ activity levels were depressed for most of the pandemic.”
According to data, the most common pickleball injury is to the wrist (13.2%), followed closely by lower leg (12.9%), head (11.9%) and lower trunk (11.6%). Other injuries include ankle, knee, shoulder, finger and face.
Although the sport has been around since the ‘60s, its popularity began to grow during the pandemic. During the past three years, the number of recreational players in the United States increased 159%, from 3.5 million in 2019 to 8.9 million in 2022, according to data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
UBS analysts predict there will be more than 22 million players this year, with older “Picklers” constituting a third of the most avid players.
The analysis predicts pickleball will lead to 67,000 trips to the ER, 366,000 outpatient visits, 8,8000 outpatient surgeries, 4,700 hospitalizations and 20,000 post-acute episodes, Forbes reported.
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