Injury epidemiology in Australian male professional soccer. Issue 6 (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lu, Donna; McCall, Alan; Jones, Mark; Kovalchik, Stephanie; Steinweg, Jeff; Gelis, Les; Duffield, Rob
• Is Part Of: Journal of science and medicine in sport. Volume 23:Issue 6(2020)
• Page Start: 574
• Page End: 579
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Incidence -- Injury prevention -- Football -- Team sport; Sports sciences -- Periodicals; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; Exercise -- Physiological aspects -- Periodicals; Sports -- physiology -- Periodicals; Sports Medicine -- Periodicals; Sportgeneeskunde; 617.102705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2020.01.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1440-2440

Abstract

Abstract: Objectives: To describe the injury epidemiology of the Australian male professional soccer league (A-League) over 6 consecutive seasons. Design: Prospective observational cohort study. Methods: Match-loss injury data was collected from each A-League club (n = 10) for each competition match (n = 27/season) over 6 seasons (2012/13–2017/18). Injuries were collected weekly through a standardised protocol and were classified by setting, mechanism, severity, the type and location on the body. Generalised Linear Models were used to estimate the injury incidences (injury/round/season), whilst rate ratios were reported for total injuries and within abovementioned injury classifications. Results: Overall injury incidence was not significantly different ranging from 4.8 (95%CI:4.1–5.8) to 6.7 (95%CI:5.8–7.8) between seasons 2012/13 to 2017/18 (p > 0.05). Match injuries remained stable whilst training injuries decreased across the 6 seasons (exp(β) 0.59[95%CI:0.36–1.0]; p = 0.04). Respectively, contact and non-contact injuries were not significantly different across the 6 seasons, although non-contact injuries were more common than contact injuries (p > 0.05). Mild severity injuries decreased (exp(β) 0.64 [95%CI:0.4–0.9];p = 0.02), whilst moderate severity injuries increased (exp(β) 1.7 [95%CI:1.0–2.8];p = 0.04) in season 2017/18 compared to 2012/13. The most common injuries were at thigh (23–36%), of which the majority were hamstring injuries (54%–65%) of muscle/tendon type (50–60% of total injuries/season). Injuries remained stable across the seasons by type and location (p > 0.05 and p > 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: Injury rates, mechanisms, locations and types have remained relatively stable over recent seasons of the A-League. Current Australian professional soccer league medical practices may have contributed to the stability of injury rates.