Francesco Paolo Bianchi 1 , Valter Veneziani 2 , Michele Alberto Cantalice 1 , Angela Notarnicola 3 , Silvio Tafuri 4 . Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Football has a higher injury rate compared with other team sports such as rugby, in terms of two main categories: intrinsic (individual) and extrinsic (environmental) factors. The playing field is an extrinsic risk factor which has been poorly investigated in the literature. PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to define the incidence and risk factors of injuries in a cohort of footballers comparing the role of three different types of playing field (hard court, natural grass or synthetic grass). STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross sectional prevalence study. METHODS: The population comprised footballers recruited by a convenience sample; the instrument used for the survey was an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: 267 football players were enrolled (average age 23.4±4.8 years), of whom 33.7% (n=90/267) played on hard court, 33.0% (n=88/267) on natural grass and 33.3% (n=89/267) on synthetic grass. The overall incidence of injury was 40.1 (95% CI 34.1 to 46.8) ×1000 person-years of training, with higher values for ankle and knee injuries. Ankle injuries (aOR 0.4; P=0.021) were associated with playing on natural grass as a protective factor, while playing on natural grass seemed to be a risk factor for muscular injuries (aOR 2.3; P=0.026). CONCLUSION: Our study showed a high lifetime prevalence of injury among footballers (57%), in particular among athletes who play and train on a hard court. We have studied a topic poorly investigated previously and provide the opportunity to understand interventions to increase the capacity of stakeholders in preventing injuries. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
BACKGROUND: Football has a higher injury rate compared with other team sports such as rugby, in terms of two main categories: intrinsic (individual) and extrinsic (environmental) factors. The playing field is an extrinsic risk factor which has been poorly investigated in the literature. PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to define the incidence and risk factors of injuries in a cohort of footballers comparing the role of three different types of playing field (hard court, natural grass or synthetic grass). STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross sectional prevalence study. METHODS: The population comprised footballers recruited by a convenience sample; the instrument used for the survey was an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: 267 football players were enrolled (average age 23.4±4.8 years), of whom 33.7% (n=90/267) played on hard court, 33.0% (n=88/267) on natural grass and 33.3% (n=89/267) on synthetic grass. The overall incidence of injury was 40.1 (95% CI 34.1 to 46.8) ×1000 person -years of training, with higher values for ankle and knee injuries. Ankle injuries (aOR 0.4; P=0.021) were associated with playing on natural grass as a protective factor, while playing on natural grass seemed to be a risk factor for muscular injuries (aOR 2.3; P=0.026). CONCLUSION: Our study showed a high lifetime prevalence of injury among footballers (57%), in particular among athletes who play and train on a hard court. We have studied a topic poorly investigated previously and provide the opportunity to understand interventions to increase the capacity of stakeholders in preventing injuries. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Entities: Disease
Species
Keywords:
burden of disease; epidemiology; health education; multiple injury; playground; sports / leisure facility
Mesh: See more »
Year: 2018
PMID: 30322971 DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2018-042968
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Inj Prev ISSN: 1353-8047 Impact factor: 2.399