Grygorowicz M1,2, Michalowska M2,3, Blazkiewicz A2, Bania A4, Wiernicka M4
1Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Department of Spondyloorthopaedics and Biomechanics of the Spine, Poznan, Poland, 2Rehasport Clinic FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Sports Science Research Group, Poznan, Poland, 3Poznan University of Technology, Institute of Applied Mechanics, Laboratory of Biomechanics, Poznan, Poland, 4Poznan University of Physical Education, Department of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Poznan, Poland
Background: There are over 26 million women registered as the football players world-wide, and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is planning to support building the women's game and bringing it into the mainstream, which additionally enhance the exploding popularity of the women´s game in the future. Previous studies confirmed that women are at a greater risk of sustaining injury in training and match play compared to male athletes (Steffen et al. 2007). What is more crucial, injury occurrence also increases during the adolescence (Malina 2016). It has to be also underlined, that injuries represent a substantial problem for the athlete, the coach, the team and parents, and the long-term side effects of injuries are usually the main cause of quitting the football (Grygorowicz et al. 2017). As a consequence, many talented athletes choose or are forced to give up their promising sports careers (Steffen et al. 2010).
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the prevalence of overuse injuries in talented adolescent female football players over 2-months observation. We aimed to record the prevalence of overuse injuries in six anatomical areas to provide more relevant data on this unique cohort.
Methods: Twenty five members of the U-14 Women´s Grater Poland Football Region participated in the study. For collecting overuse injuries The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) Overuse Injury Questionnaire developed by Clarsen et al. was used (Clarsen et al. 2013). The data on injuries located in the neck, shoulder, lower back, thigh, knee, and ankle, as these areas are the most common sites of injury among football players, was collected every Sunday via web-based database. If an athlete reported any symptoms on any of the four questions for each anatomical area, this was counted as an injury, according to previously published definition (Weiss et al. 2017). Prevalence measures were calculated for each week by dividing the number of reported problems by the number of respondents for that specific period. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participant´s legal guardian.
Results: The average prevalence of all overuse injury problems across all anatomical areas was over 56% (95%CI 29% to 64%), and the highest average prevalence was reported in the knee (68%), following ankle (52%) and hip (24%). Over 80% of the players reported some type of overuse injury during the observed period, and almost half of the cohort (48%) reported a substantial problem.
Conclusion(s): The prevalence of overuse injuries in adolescent female players is alarmingly high. Majority of overuse injuries lead to reduced football-related participation. Future studies should explore the relationship between training loads and injury occurrence to provide more relevant data for practitioners.
Implications: Based on the current study it is possible to tailor injury prevention programs, which seems crucial in this cohort. Moreover, monitoring of athletes is fundamental to defining the relationship between training loads and risk of injury.
Keywords: Female football, Adolescent athletes, Overuse injuries
Funding acknowledgements: No funds to be declared.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the prevalence of overuse injuries in talented adolescent female football players over 2-months observation. We aimed to record the prevalence of overuse injuries in six anatomical areas to provide more relevant data on this unique cohort.
Methods: Twenty five members of the U-14 Women´s Grater Poland Football Region participated in the study. For collecting overuse injuries The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) Overuse Injury Questionnaire developed by Clarsen et al. was used (Clarsen et al. 2013). The data on injuries located in the neck, shoulder, lower back, thigh, knee, and ankle, as these areas are the most common sites of injury among football players, was collected every Sunday via web-based database. If an athlete reported any symptoms on any of the four questions for each anatomical area, this was counted as an injury, according to previously published definition (Weiss et al. 2017). Prevalence measures were calculated for each week by dividing the number of reported problems by the number of respondents for that specific period. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participant´s legal guardian.
Results: The average prevalence of all overuse injury problems across all anatomical areas was over 56% (95%CI 29% to 64%), and the highest average prevalence was reported in the knee (68%), following ankle (52%) and hip (24%). Over 80% of the players reported some type of overuse injury during the observed period, and almost half of the cohort (48%) reported a substantial problem.
Conclusion(s): The prevalence of overuse injuries in adolescent female players is alarmingly high. Majority of overuse injuries lead to reduced football-related participation. Future studies should explore the relationship between training loads and injury occurrence to provide more relevant data for practitioners.
Implications: Based on the current study it is possible to tailor injury prevention programs, which seems crucial in this cohort. Moreover, monitoring of athletes is fundamental to defining the relationship between training loads and risk of injury.
Keywords: Female football, Adolescent athletes, Overuse injuries
Funding acknowledgements: No funds to be declared.
Topic: Sport & sports injuries; Musculoskeletal
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Poznan University of Medical Sciences
Ethics committee: Bioethical Committee
Ethics number: 690/18
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
