BACKGROUND: Although characterized by a relatively high injury rate, soccer is the world's most popular sport. In Belgium, the national Royal Belgian Football Association involves about 420,000 licensed players, whose injury reports are collected in a nationwide registry. Over a period of 10 years, the association has introduced the Fédération Internationale de Football Association preventive programs and has initiated a stringent postponement policy of competition in case of nonoptimal weather conditions. HYPOTHESIS: The authors questioned whether these preventive programs effectively decreased the incidence of soccer-related injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: The authors compared the incidence, location, timing, and severity of all registered soccer injuries in Belgium during 2 complete seasons separated by a decade (1999-2000 vs 2009-2010). RESULTS: A total of 56,364 injuries were reported, with an average of 6.8 injuries per 100 players per season. There was a 21.1% reduction in injury rate in the second season (rate ratio = 0.789; 95% confidence interval, 0.776-0.802), predominantly caused by a significant reduction in injuries during the winter period. In both seasons, an injury peak was noted during the first 3 months of the season. Recreational players had a higher risk for injury than national-level players (7.2 vs 4.4 injuries per 100 players per season; rate ratio = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.59-1.69). The relative proportion of severe injuries was higher for female players and male youth players in general. CONCLUSION: The introduction of injury preventive programs has led to a significant reduction of soccer-related injuries, especially during the winter period. However, there is still room for improvement, and preventive programs can become more effective when specific parameters are targeted, such as adequate conditioning of players in the preseason.
BACKGROUND: Although characterized by a relatively high injury rate, soccer is the world's most popular sport. In Belgium, the national Royal Belgian Football Association involves about 420,000 licensed players, whose injury reports are collected in a nationwide registry. Over a period of 10 years, the association has introduced the Fédération Internationale de Football Association preventive programs and has initiated a stringent postponement policy of competition in case of nonoptimal weather conditions. HYPOTHESIS: The authors questioned whether these preventive programs effectively decreased the incidence of soccer-related injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: The authors compared the incidence, location, timing, and severity of all registered soccer injuries in Belgium during 2 complete seasons separated by a decade (1999-2000 vs 2009-2010). RESULTS: A total of 56,364 injuries were reported, with an average of 6.8 injuries per 100 players per season. There was a 21.1% reduction in injury rate in the second season (rate ratio = 0.789; 95% confidence interval, 0.776-0.802), predominantly caused by a significant reduction in injuries during the winter period. In both seasons, an injury peak was noted during the first 3 months of the season. Recreational players had a higher risk for injury than national-level players (7.2 vs 4.4 injuries per 100 players per season; rate ratio = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.59-1.69). The relative proportion of severe injuries was higher for female players and male youth players in general. CONCLUSION: The introduction of injury preventive programs has led to a significant reduction of soccer-related injuries, especially during the winter period. However, there is still room for improvement, and preventive programs can become more effective when specific parameters are targeted, such as adequate conditioning of players in the preseason.
Authors: Holly Silvers-Granelli; Bert Mandelbaum; Ola Adeniji; Stephanie Insler; Mario Bizzini; Ryan Pohlig; Astrid Junge; Lynn Snyder-Mackler; Jiri Dvorak Journal: Am J Sports Med Date: 2015-09-16 Impact factor: 6.202
Authors: Ingrid Vriend; Vincent Gouttebarge; Caroline F Finch; Willem van Mechelen; Evert A L M Verhagen Journal: Sports Med Date: 2017-10 Impact factor: 11.136
Authors: Corbin A Hedt; Jessica T Le; Tyler Heimdal; Justin Vickery; Erin Orozco; Patrick C McCulloch; Bradley S Lambert Journal: Int J Sports Phys Ther Date: 2022-04-02
Authors: James R Slauterbeck; Autumn Reilly; Pamela M Vacek; Rebecca Choquette; Timothy W Tourville; Bert Mandelbaum; Robert J Johnson; Bruce D Beynnon Journal: Sports Health Date: 2017-10-06 Impact factor: 3.843