RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Comparison of Injuries in Different Non-Professional Soccer Settings: Incidence Rates, Causes and Characteristics
Angela Gebert1, 2, *, Markus Gerber2, Uwe Pühse2, Philippe Gassmann3, Hanspeter Stamm1, Markus Lamprecht1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2019Volume: 12
First Page: 28
Last Page: 34
Publisher ID: TOSSJ-12-28
DOI: 10.2174/1875399X01912010028
Article History:
Received Date: 29/05/2019Revision Received Date: 17/07/2019
Acceptance Date: 19/07/2019
Electronic publication date: 31/07/2019
Collection year: 2019
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
There is a lack of data regarding the epidemiology of soccer injuries and the particular accidents in specific non-professional soccer populations. The aim of this study was to analyse incidence, causes and characteristics of soccer injuries, taking into account different settings of organised (amateur) and non-organised soccer.
Methods:
A random sample of persons who had sustained an injury while playing soccer and reported this injury to the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) was retrospectively consulted. 705 injuries were analysed involving three main settings (soccer games, soccer training, non-organised soccer) and different amateur soccer leagues.
Results:
Knee injuries (p=0.01) and head injuries (p=0.005) were observed more frequently in games than in non-organised soccer. Injuries caused by contact with an opponent and foul play occurred more frequently in games than in training (p<0.001) or non-organised soccer (p≤0.001). Injury incidence was substantially higher for players of 30+/40+ leagues (18.7 injuries per 1000 hours) than for players of other leagues (1st-3rd amateur leagues: 8.5, p=0.002; 4th-5th amateur leagues: 9.4, p=0.007; female leagues: 8.2, p=0.006; junior leagues: 6.7, p<0.001).
Conclusion:
With respect to injury characteristics, causes and injury incidence, essential differences between various non-professional soccer settings exist suggesting that a more specific approach in injury prevention may generate positive effects.
