| Title |
Relative Age Effects Across and Within Female Sport Contexts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Sports Medicine, March 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s40279-018-0890-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Kristy L. Smith, Patricia L. Weir, Kevin Till, Michael Romann, Stephen Cobley |
| Abstract |
Subtle differences in chronological age within sport (bi-) annual-age groupings can contribute to immediate participation and long-term attainment discrepancies; known as the relative age effect. Voluminous studies have examined relative age effects in male sport; however, their prevalence and context-specific magnitude in female sport remain undetermined. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and magnitude of relative age effects in female sport via examination of published data spanning 1984-2016. Registered with PROSPERO (No. 42016053497) and using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis systematic search guidelines, 57 studies were identified, containing 308 independent samples across 25 sports. Distribution data were synthesised using odds ratio meta-analyses, applying an invariance random-effects model. Follow-up subgroup category analyses examined whether relative age effect magnitudes were moderated by age group, competition level, sport type, sport context and study quality. When comparing the relatively oldest (quartile 1) vs. youngest (quartile 4) individuals across all female sport contexts, the overall pooled estimate identified a significant but small relative age effect (odds ratio = 1.25; 95% confidence interval 1.21-1.30; p = 0.01; odds ratio adjusted = 1.21). Subgroup analyses revealed the relative age effect magnitude was higher in pre-adolescent (≤ 11 years) and adolescent (12-14 years) age groups and at higher competition levels. Relative age effect magnitudes were higher in team-based and individual sport contexts associated with high physiological demands. The findings highlight relative age effects are prevalent across the female sport contexts examined. Relative age effect magnitude is moderated by interactions between developmental stages, competition level and sport context demands. Modifications to sport policy, organisational and athlete development system structure, as well as practitioner intervention are recommended to prevent relative age effect-related participation and longer term attainment inequalities. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 35 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 12 | 34% |
| Spain | 3 | 9% |
| Ireland | 2 | 6% |
| Brazil | 1 | 3% |
| United States | 1 | 3% |
| Finland | 1 | 3% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 14 | 40% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 18 | 51% |
| Scientists | 13 | 37% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 6% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 1 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 208 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 208 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 28 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 23 | 11% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 18 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 6% |
| Researcher | 10 | 5% |
| Other | 34 | 16% |
| Unknown | 82 | 39% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Sports and Recreations | 74 | 36% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 8 | 4% |
| Social Sciences | 7 | 3% |
| Psychology | 6 | 3% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 5 | 2% |
| Other | 17 | 8% |
| Unknown | 91 | 44% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 32. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 31 January 2023.
All research outputs
#1,266,730
of 25,738,558 outputs
Outputs from Sports Medicine
#1,057
of 2,896 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#27,944
of 352,895 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Sports Medicine
#24
of 56 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,738,558 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,896 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 55.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 352,895 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 56 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its contemporaries.