Propensity for osteoarthritis and lower limb joint pain in retired professional soccer players

S Drawer¹ and C W Fuller²

¹ UK Sports Institute, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1ST, UK
² Scarman Centre, University of Leicester, 154 Upper New Walk, Leicester, Leicestershire LE1 7QA, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr Fuller cwf2{at}le.ac.uk

Objective—To quantify the prevalence of osteoarthritis and the severity of pain in the lower limb joints of players retired from English professional soccer.

Method—An anonymous self administered questionnaire was distributed to 500 former players registered with the English Professional Footballers' Association. The questionnaire was designed to gather information on personal details, physical activity loading patterns, history of lower limb joint injury, and current medical condition of the lower limb joints.

Results—Of 500 questionnaires distributed, 185 (37%) were returned. Nearly half of the respondents (79: 47%) retired because of injury; 42% (33) were acute injuries and 58% (46) chronic injuries. Most of the acute injuries that led to early retirement were of the knee (15: 46%), followed by the ankle (7: 21%) and lower back (5: 15%). Most of the chronic injuries that led to early retirement were also of the knee (17: 37%), followed by the lower back (10: 22%) and the hip (4: 9%). Of all respondents, 32% (59) had been medically diagnosed with osteoarthritis in at least one of the lower limb joints. More respondents had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in the knee joints than either the ankle or the hip joints. Significantly (p<0.001) more respondents reported pain in one lower extremity joint during one or more daily activities than those who did not (joint pain: 137, 80%; no joint pain: 35, 20%).

Conclusion—The risk for professional soccer players of osteoarthritis in at least one of the lower extremity joints is very high and significantly greater than for the general population. The results support the suggestion that professional soccer players should be provided with health surveillance during their playing career.

Key Words: soccer; osteoarthritis; joint pain; health surveillance

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tscholl, P, Junge, A, Dvorak, J (2008). The use of medication and nutritional supplements during FIFA World Cups 2002 and 2006. Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 725-730 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Abernethy, L., Bleakley, C. (2007). Strategies to prevent injury in adolescent sport: a systematic review. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 627-638 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nicholas, S. J., Nicholas, J. A., Nicholas, C., Diecchio, J. R., McHugh, M. P. (2007). The Health Status of Retired American Football Players: Super Bowl III Revisited. Am J Sports Med 35: 1674-1679 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Faigenbaum, A. D. (2007). State of the Art Reviews: Resistance Training for Children and Adolescents: Are There Health Outcomes?. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE 1: 190-200 [Abstract]  
• Dallalana, R. J., Brooks, J. H. M., Kemp, S. P. T., Williams, A. M. (2007). The Epidemiology of Knee Injuries in English Professional Rugby Union. Am J Sports Med 35: 818-830 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mithoefer, K., Williams, R. J. III, Warren, R. F., Wickiewicz, T. L., Marx, R. G. (2006). High-Impact Athletics After Knee Articular Cartilage Repair: A Prospective Evaluation of the Microfracture Technique. Am J Sports Med 34: 1413-1418 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Valderrabano, V., Hintermann, B., Horisberger, M., Fung, T. S. (2006). Ligamentous Posttraumatic Ankle Osteoarthritis. Am J Sports Med 34: 612-620 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• L'Hermette, M, Polle, G, Tourny-Chollet, C, Dujardin, F, Klassbo, M (2006). Hip passive range of motion and frequency of radiographic hip osteoarthritis in former elite handball players * Commentary. Br. J. Sports. Med. 40: 45-49 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Emery, C. A., Meeuwisse, W. H., Hartmann, S. E. (2005). Evaluation of Risk Factors for Injury in Adolescent Soccer: Implementation and Validation of an Injury Surveillance System. Am J Sports Med 33: 1882-1891 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mithofer, K., Peterson, L., Mandelbaum, B. R., Minas, T. (2005). Articular Cartilage Repair in Soccer Players With Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation: Functional Outcome and Return to Competition. Am J Sports Med 33: 1639-1646 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Forsyth, C. B., Cole, A., Murphy, G., Bienias, J. L., Im, H.-J., Loeser, R. F. Jr (2005). Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase-13 Production With Aging by Human Articular Chondrocytes in Response to Catabolic Stimuli. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 60: 1118-1124 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Emery, C. A., Cassidy, J. D., Klassen, T. P., Rosychuk, R. J., Rowe, B. H. (2005). Effectiveness of a home-based balance-training program in reducing sports-related injuries among healthy adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial. CMAJ 172: 749-754 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Myklebust, G, Bahr, R (2005). Return to play guidelines after anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 127-131 [Full Text]  
• Giza, E., Fuller, C., Junge, A., Dvorak, J. (2003). Mechanisms of Foot and Ankle Injuries in Soccer. Am J Sports Med 31: 550-554 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Drawer, S, Fuller, C W (2002). Evaluating the level of injury in English professional football using a risk based assessment process. Br. J. Sports. Med. 36: 446-451 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Conaghan, P G (2002). Update on osteoarthritis part 1: current concepts and the relation to exercise. Br. J. Sports. Med. 36: 330-333 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Orchard, J W (2002). Benefits and risks of using local anaesthetic for pain relief to allow early return to play in professional football. Br. J. Sports. Med. 36: 209-213 [Abstract] [Full Text]