Pickleball’s explosion in popularity, especially among older Americans, has been so great that it’s impacting healthcare costs in the U.S.
The country’s fastest-growing sports saw about a 160% growth in participation over the last three years to about nine million players in 2022, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
With an increase in participation has come an increase in injuries.
The sport is expected to create between $250 million and $500 million in medical costs in 2023, representing between 5% and 10% of total unexpected medical costs, according to a report from Swiss Bank UBS.
The estimated costs include 366,000 outpatient visits, 67,000 emergency room visits, 20,000 post-acute episodes, 8,800 outpatient surgeries and 4,700 hospitalizations.
The investment bank released the report in response to insurers like UnitedHealth warning about a recent significant increase in the rate of hip replacements and knee surgeries.
UBS’s report indicates that pickleball may be the main culprit for the trend.
Players tend to be older, with about one-third being over 60, meaning they’re more injury prone. They also tend to have higher incomes, with almost half making more than $100,000 per year, meaning they are more likely to have good insurance and can afford elective surgeries.
The report from the analysts referenced a 2021 study that focused on picklers aged 60 and over and found that the most common pickleball-related diagnoses were strains/sprains, fractures and contusions. The study also found that 86% of emergency department visits for pickleball injuries occur in people over 60 years old.
The rise in pickleball injuries and medical costs isn’t expected to slow anytime soon. The investment bank is predicting the number of players will surge even further this year to 22.3 million.
“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 wrote.
