Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026 · 系統性回顧＋統合分析（依標題推測）
Relative age effects in Rugby union and Rugby league: a systematic review and meta-analysis
傷害流行病學・預防・篩檢 · 相對年齡效應
中文閱讀摘要
橄欖球中相對年齡效應普遍存在。
原始摘要
Introduction
Relative Age Effects (RAEs) are prominent factors affecting youth sport participation and talent identification and selection processes. In rugby, RAEs appear to be prevalent in both Rugby League (RL) and Rugby Union (RU), yet no study has quantitatively synthesised the available evidence across codes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify RAE prevalence, magnitude, and moderating factors (i.e., sex, age, and competition level) across rugby codes, using the extreme-quartile contrast between Q1 and Q4.
Methods
A systematic search in CINAHL, Ovid, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science identified 26 eligible studies. Distribution data were synthesised using odds ratio meta-analyses with an inverse-variance random-effects model and separate analyses by sex, age, and competition level.
Results
Male players showed a significant overrepresentation in Q1 vs. Q4 (34.8% vs. 16.9%; OR = 1.99), with smaller but similar effects in female players (27.5% vs. 23.6%; OR = 1.15). In males, RAEs were stronger in youth than senior categories (OR = 2.42 vs. 1.41), and in younger (U7-U14; U15-U17) vs. older age groups (U18-U20).
Discussion
Descriptively, RAEs appeared larger at higher competition levels, particularly in youth males (regional/Local: OR = 2.14; national: OR = 2.76). Overall, findings demonstrate that RAEs are pervasive in rugby and persist across sex, age, and competition level. However, the magnitude of the pooled estimates should be interpreted cautiously in light of the substantial between-study heterogeneity and the attenuation of the male effect following adjustment.
至 Europe PMC 閱讀完整來源 ↗ · 擷取日期 2026-10-19
書目、來源與全文狀態
- DOI
- 10.3389/fspor.2026.1809947
- PMID／PMCID
- 42328316 / PMC13279214
- 作者
- Brustio PR, Cobley S, Ungureanu AN, McAuley ABT, Lupo C, Boccia G, Till K, Kelly AL
- 首次發表日期
- 2026-06-05Europe PMC 提供，部分日期可能依年份或月份推定。
- 卷／期／頁碼或文章編號
- 8 ／ 期未提供 ／ 1809947
- 書目來源與查核日期
- Europe PMC · 2026-10-19僅核對書目欄位與來源連結；不代表已評讀研究品質。
- 全文與授權
- 來源列有免費全文（查核 2026-10-19），未逐篇測試 PDF 下載。 來源授權標示：cc by。
可回溯引用
Brustio PR, Cobley S, Ungureanu AN, McAuley ABT, Lupo C, Boccia G, Till K, Kelly AL. Relative age effects in Rugby union and Rugby league: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in sports and active living. 2026;8:1809947. PMID: 42328316. PMCID: PMC13279214. doi:10.3389/fspor.2026.1809947
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