CONTEXT: The winter break in the top 2 German professional soccer leagues was shortened from 6.5 to 3.5 weeks in the 2009-2010 season. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether this change affected injury characteristics by comparing the second half of the 2008-2009 (long winter break) with the equivalent period in the 2009-2010 season (short winter break). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: German male professional soccer leagues. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Seven professional German male soccer teams (184 players in the 2008-2009 season, 188 players in the 2009-2010 season). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Injury incidences and injury characteristics (cause of injury, location, severity, type, diagnosis), including their monthly distribution, were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 300 time-loss injuries (2008-2009 n = 151, 2009-2010 n = 149) occurred. The overall injury incidence per 1000 soccer hours was 5.90 (95% confidence interval = 5.03, 6.82) in 2008-2009 and 6.55 (5.58, 7.69) in 2009-2010. Match injuries per 1000 hours were 31.5 (25.0, 38.0) in the first season and 26.5 (20.2, 32.7) in the second season; the corresponding training values were 2.67 (2.08-3.44) and 3.98 (3.19-4.95), respectively. The training injury incidence (incidence rate ratio = 1.49 [95% confidence interval = 1.07, 2.08], P = .02) and the risk of sustaining a knee injury (incidence rate ratio = 1.66 [1.00, 2.76], P = .049) were higher in 2009-2010 after the short winter break; the incidence of moderate and severe injuries (time loss >7 days) trended higher (incidence rate ratio = 1.34 [0.96, 1.86], P = .09). CONCLUSIONS: Shortening the winter break from 6.5 to 3.5 weeks did not change the overall injury incidence; however, a higher number of training, knee, and possibly more severe injuries (time loss >7 days) occurred.
CONTEXT: The winter break in the top 2 German professional soccer leagues was shortened from 6.5 to 3.5 weeks in the 2009-2010 season. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether this change affected injury characteristics by comparing the second half of the 2008-2009 (long winter break) with the equivalent period in the 2009-2010 season (short winter break). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: German male professional soccer leagues. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Seven professional German male soccer teams (184 players in the 2008-2009 season, 188 players in the 2009-2010 season). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Injury incidences and injury characteristics (cause of injury, location, severity, type, diagnosis), including their monthly distribution, were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 300 time-loss injuries (2008-2009 n = 151, 2009-2010 n = 149) occurred. The overall injury incidence per 1000 soccer hours was 5.90 (95% confidence interval = 5.03, 6.82) in 2008-2009 and 6.55 (5.58, 7.69) in 2009-2010. Match injuries per 1000 hours were 31.5 (25.0, 38.0) in the first season and 26.5 (20.2, 32.7) in the second season; the corresponding training values were 2.67 (2.08-3.44) and 3.98 (3.19-4.95), respectively. The training injury incidence (incidence rate ratio = 1.49 [95% confidence interval = 1.07, 2.08], P = .02) and the risk of sustaining a knee injury (incidence rate ratio = 1.66 [1.00, 2.76], P = .049) were higher in 2009-2010 after the short winter break; the incidence of moderate and severe injuries (time loss >7 days) trended higher (incidence rate ratio = 1.34 [0.96, 1.86], P = .09). CONCLUSIONS: Shortening the winter break from 6.5 to 3.5 weeks did not change the overall injury incidence; however, a higher number of training, knee, and possibly more severe injuries (time loss >7 days) occurred.
Authors: C W Fuller; J Ekstrand; A Junge; T E Andersen; R Bahr; J Dvorak; M Hägglund; P McCrory; W H Meeuwisse Journal: Scand J Med Sci Sports Date: 2006-04 Impact factor: 4.221
Authors: Jonathan D Chappell; Daniel C Herman; Bradford S Knight; Donald T Kirkendall; William E Garrett; Bing Yu Journal: Am J Sports Med Date: 2005-07 Impact factor: 6.202
Authors: Steven Jones; Sania Almousa; Alistair Gibb; Nick Allamby; Rich Mullen; Thor Einar Andersen; Morgan Williams Journal: Sports Med Date: 2019-12 Impact factor: 11.136
Authors: Paweł Chmura; Marek Konefał; Del P Wong; Antonio J Figueiredo; Edward Kowalczuk; Andrzej Rokita; Jan Chmura; Marcin Andrzejewski Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2019-06-10 Impact factor: 3.390