Alejandro López-Valenciano1, Javier Raya-González2, Jose Alberto Garcia-Gómez3, Alba Aparicio-Sarmiento4,5, Pilar Sainz de Baranda4,5, Mark De Ste Croix6, Francisco Ayala7. 1. Centre for Sport Studies, King Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain. 2. Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Isabel I , Burgos, Spain. 3. Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Elche, Spain. 4. Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain. 5. Sports and Musculoskeletal System Research Group (RAQUIS), University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain. 6. School of Sport and Exercise, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, UK. 7. School of Sport and Exercise, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, UK. franciscoayalarodriguez@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Football is the most popular sport among women; however, little is known about the injury profile in this population. This information would help design tailored injury risk mitigation strategies that may make football safer for women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological data of injuries in women´s football. METHODS: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was performed up to January 2020 in PubMed, Web of Science, Sportdiscus and the Cochrane Library databases. Twenty-two studies reporting the incidence of injuries in women football were analysed. Two reviewers independently extracted data (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] for inter-reviewer reliability = 0.87) and assessed study quality using the STROBE statement, GRADE approach, Newcastle Ottawa Scale and Downs and Black assessment tools. Studies were combined in pooled analyses (injury incidence and injury proportion) using a Poisson random effects regression model. RESULTS: The overall incidence of injuries in female football players was 6.1 injuries/1000 h of exposure. Match injury incidence (19.2 injuries/1000 h of exposure) was almost six times higher than training injury incidence rate (3.5 injuries/1000 h of exposure). Lower extremity injuries had the highest incidence rates (4.8 injuries/1000 h of exposure). The most common types of injuries were muscle/tendon (1.8 injuries/1000 h of exposure) and joint (non-bone) and ligament (1.5 injuries/1000 h of exposure), which were frequently associated with traumatic incidents. Slight/minimal injuries (1-3 days of time loss) were the most common. The incidence rate of injuries during matches in the top five world ranking leagues was higher than the rest of the leagues (19.3 vs 10.7 injuries/1000 h of exposure, respectively). The weighted injury proportion was 1.1 (95% confidence interval = 0.6-1.7) whereby on average players sustained more than one injury per season. CONCLUSIONS: Female football players are exposed to a substantial risk of sustaining injuries, especially during matches that require the highest level of performance. To markedly reduce overall injury burden, efforts should focus on introducing and evaluating preventative measures that target match specific dynamics to make football players more capable of responding to the challenges that they have to deal with during match play. REGISTRATION: This systematic review was registered in the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews (ID = CRD42019118152).
BACKGROUND: Football is the most popular sport among women; however, little is known about the injury profile in this population. This information would help design tailored injury risk mitigation strategies that may make football safer for women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological data of injuries in women´s football. METHODS: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was performed up to January 2020 in PubMed, Web of Science, Sportdiscus and the Cochrane Library databases. Twenty-two studies reporting the incidence of injuries in women football were analysed. Two reviewers independently extracted data (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] for inter-reviewer reliability = 0.87) and assessed study quality using the STROBE statement, GRADE approach, Newcastle Ottawa Scale and Downs and Black assessment tools. Studies were combined in pooled analyses (injury incidence and injury proportion) using a Poisson random effects regression model. RESULTS: The overall incidence of injuries in female football players was 6.1 injuries/1000 h of exposure. Match injury incidence (19.2 injuries/1000 h of exposure) was almost six times higher than training injury incidence rate (3.5 injuries/1000 h of exposure). Lower extremity injuries had the highest incidence rates (4.8 injuries/1000 h of exposure). The most common types of injuries were muscle/tendon (1.8 injuries/1000 h of exposure) and joint (non-bone) and ligament (1.5 injuries/1000 h of exposure), which were frequently associated with traumatic incidents. Slight/minimal injuries (1-3 days of time loss) were the most common. The incidence rate of injuries during matches in the top five world ranking leagues was higher than the rest of the leagues (19.3 vs 10.7 injuries/1000 h of exposure, respectively). The weighted injury proportion was 1.1 (95% confidence interval = 0.6-1.7) whereby on average players sustained more than one injury per season. CONCLUSIONS: Female football players are exposed to a substantial risk of sustaining injuries, especially during matches that require the highest level of performance. To markedly reduce overall injury burden, efforts should focus on introducing and evaluating preventative measures that target match specific dynamics to make football players more capable of responding to the challenges that they have to deal with during match play. REGISTRATION: This systematic review was registered in the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews (ID = CRD42019118152).
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