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Injury Patterns among Elite Football Players : A Media-based Analysis over 6 Seasons with Emphasis on Playing Position

Leventer, L. ; Eek, F. LU ; Hofstetter, S. and Lames, M. (2016) In International Journal of Sports Medicine 37(11). p.898-908
Abstract

The study objective was to describe the types, localizations and severity of injuries among first division Bundesliga football players, and to study the effect of playing position on match and training injury incidence and severity, based on information from the public media. Exposure and injuries data from 1 448 players over 6 consecutive seasons were collected from a media-based register. In total, 3 358 injuries were documented. The incidence rate for match and training injuries was 11.5 per 1 000 match-hours (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9–12.2), and 61.4 per 100 player-seasons (95% CI: 58.8–64.1), respectively. Strains (30.3%) and sprains (16.7%) were the major injury types, with the latter causing significantly longer lay-off... (More)

The study objective was to describe the types, localizations and severity of injuries among first division Bundesliga football players, and to study the effect of playing position on match and training injury incidence and severity, based on information from the public media. Exposure and injuries data from 1 448 players over 6 consecutive seasons were collected from a media-based register. In total, 3 358 injuries were documented. The incidence rate for match and training injuries was 11.5 per 1 000 match-hours (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9–12.2), and 61.4 per 100 player-seasons (95% CI: 58.8–64.1), respectively. Strains (30.3%) and sprains (16.7%) were the major injury types, with the latter causing significantly longer lay-off times than the former. Significant differences between the playing positions were found regarding injury incidence and injury burden (lay-off time per incidence-rate), with wing-defenders sustaining significantly lower incidence-rates of groin injuries compared to forwards (rate ratio: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.17–0.96). Wing-midfielders had the highest incidence-rate and injury burden from match injuries, whereas central-defenders sustained the highest incidence-rate and injury burden from training injuries. There were also significant differences in match availability due to an injury across the playing positions, with midfielders sustaining the highest unavailability rates from a match and training injury. Injury-risk and patterns seem to vary substantially between different playing positions. Identifying positional differences in injury-risk may be of major importance to medical practitioners when considering preventive measures.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
epidemiology, male football, soccer
in
International Journal of Sports Medicine
volume
37
issue
11
pages
898 - 908
publisher
Georg Thieme Verlag
external identifiers
  • scopus:84980384671
  • pmid:27467906
  • wos:000384561500009
ISSN
0172-4622
DOI
10.1055/s-0042-108201
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e8123199-b276-4d21-9a80-8459841747fc
date added to LUP
2016-09-08 15:33:53
date last changed
2024-03-07 11:48:58
@article{e8123199-b276-4d21-9a80-8459841747fc,
  abstract     = {{<p>The study objective was to describe the types, localizations and severity of injuries among first division Bundesliga football players, and to study the effect of playing position on match and training injury incidence and severity, based on information from the public media. Exposure and injuries data from 1 448 players over 6 consecutive seasons were collected from a media-based register. In total, 3 358 injuries were documented. The incidence rate for match and training injuries was 11.5 per 1 000 match-hours (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9–12.2), and 61.4 per 100 player-seasons (95% CI: 58.8–64.1), respectively. Strains (30.3%) and sprains (16.7%) were the major injury types, with the latter causing significantly longer lay-off times than the former. Significant differences between the playing positions were found regarding injury incidence and injury burden (lay-off time per incidence-rate), with wing-defenders sustaining significantly lower incidence-rates of groin injuries compared to forwards (rate ratio: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.17–0.96). Wing-midfielders had the highest incidence-rate and injury burden from match injuries, whereas central-defenders sustained the highest incidence-rate and injury burden from training injuries. There were also significant differences in match availability due to an injury across the playing positions, with midfielders sustaining the highest unavailability rates from a match and training injury. Injury-risk and patterns seem to vary substantially between different playing positions. Identifying positional differences in injury-risk may be of major importance to medical practitioners when considering preventive measures.</p>}},
  author       = {{Leventer, L. and Eek, F. and Hofstetter, S. and Lames, M.}},
  issn         = {{0172-4622}},
  keywords     = {{epidemiology; male football; soccer}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{898--908}},
  publisher    = {{Georg Thieme Verlag}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Sports Medicine}},
  title        = {{Injury Patterns among Elite Football Players : A Media-based Analysis over 6 Seasons with Emphasis on Playing Position}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0042-108201}},
  doi          = {{10.1055/s-0042-108201}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}